


Meeting Points

by Beauty_Mouse



Series: Points [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Emotional Baggage, Episode Related, Episode Remix, F/M, First Time, Friendship, M/M, POV Alternating, Past Abuse, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romance, Science Fiction, Season 1 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 19:37:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beauty_Mouse/pseuds/Beauty_Mouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of Adam, the Doctor and Rose meet Ianto Jones and together they travel throughout the universe, meeting one Captain Jack Harkness in the process. It follows season one of Doctor Who with some tweaks. And some extra bits. Ninth/Rose, Janto; very mild one-sided Ninth/Ianto.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dalek

**Author's Note:**

> This has been up on Fanfiction.net for a while, but since I'm planning to move over here I thought I might post it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Meeting Points
> 
> Word Count: 10,000~  
> Beta: JolinarJackson (of ff.net) who is absolutely lovely and helpful in every way.
> 
> Notes: Most of this story will be lifted straight from the episodes, with some tweaks here and there because Ianto Jones is not Adam Mitchell and so his actions will be different. In this episode, he may seem quite similar, but that may simply be because we don't see much of Adam's character in this episode. There will be more deviations in future chapters, but I will be basing most off the actual episodes so you will see the same lines, the same quotes but maybe you'll see them in a new light.
> 
> Summary: Following a distress call, the Doctor and Rose never imagined they'd meet the Doctor's greatest enemy. Going into work that morning, neither did Ianto Jones.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own neither Doctor Who or Ianto Jones. I merely borrow and sometimes forget to return.

                                                                                    Act the First  
 _Dalek_

 Smoothing his tie as he walked, Ianto found it impossible to fully understand Henry van Statten. The man sent scouts and agents across the world to recruit geniuses but he wouldn't let them  _think_. To Ianto, it made very little sense, but he was intelligent enough not to speak on the matter. He wore his mask of impassive professionalism just as he wore his suits: rather well.

He moved aside, following the tide of people as a gentleman was forcibly removed. The assistant had only been with them for barely a week and Ianto hadn't even bothered learning his name; and Ianto had an eidetic memory so that was saying something. There was no such thing as job security with van Statten and it was no use acquainting himself with other personnel. Most of them were spineless lapdogs anyway; it was the only way to thrive in this occupation.

He shook off his thoughts and forced himself to pay attention to the string of conversation. He could be called upon at any moment and it was in his best interest to not miss the cue.

"So, the next President. What do you think, Republican or Democrat?" van Statten asked of the tall blonde now walking at his side.

"Democrat, sir," she answered, sounding unsure or perhaps thrown by her sudden promotion.

"For what reason?" He pressed, and Ianto's gut twisted on her behalf. With van Statten it wasn't as though you were simply fired, you lost everything. The man from before would probably end up an addict somewhere 'starting with an M.' The thought was repulsive, but quitting was likely to get you killed so the choice to stay on was hardly a choice at all.

"They're just so funny, sir," she haltingly answered, even more nervous. There was pause. A painful pause and everyone stopped short. Then van Statten finally laughed and told her he liked her, it was only then he asked for her name. Diana Goddard.

"Right, English, what have you got for me?" van Statten called out.

Ianto, after mentally correcting it to 'Welsh' as he always did _,_  hurried forward, "Ten more artifacts found at auction, Sir."

"Bring 'em on, let me see."

"Sir, with respect," Goddard cut in, much more confidently than before, "there's something more urgent. We arrested two intruders fifty-three floors down. We don't know how they got in."

"I'll tell you how they got in, in-tru-da window.  _In-tru-da window_. That was funny!" The American informed them. Forced laughter echoed through the hallway, but was cut off by a flurry of orders, none of which pertained to Ianto. He was the head archivist, and occasionally personal assistant and coffee boy. He was also one of the more senior employees at nearly two years.

Two years of working for a man who still didn't understand he was  _Welsh_.

 

                                                                                         {-I-}

 

 Ianto had selected only the most interesting items to show van Statten, who was easily bored. The man expected every piece of debris in existence to be bought, scavenged or even stolen but he had little interest in viewing them all. It was almost like he demanded it simply because he could, and while Ianto had a great love for all the things he collected and cataloged he hated the man who afforded him the opportunity.

"This was found in the middle of the ocean," Ianto explained as he held up a thin plastic device. He tapped the screen and it lit up with a soft blue glow where his index finger had been, and a string of symbols appeared at the side, "It might be method of identification with access to a database of the population."

Van Statten took it and pressed his own finger to the clear plastic panel. It lit up, a vivid red circle instead of blue, and he made a thoughtful face as he skimmed over what was obviously an alien language. He set it down on his desk, signaling he wanted to toy with it later.

"Next," Ianto's employer demanded and the Welshman hastily reached for the oddly shaped metal object lying on the desk.

"The last, quite expensive," Ianto commented, holding it delicately. He filed out monthly expenditure reports so he left out the cool eight-hundred thousand it had cost. It wouldn't have interested the man anyway.

"What does it do?" van Statten demanded, boredom and irritation seeping into his voice as he snatched the object. Ianto hoped he was merely anxious to meet the intruders.

"Ah, judging by the tubes, and the design" Ianto said as the doors opened and Diana Goddard entered with an entourage of security personnel and two others, a tall gentlemen and a young blonde, who were then brought in front of the desk. The intruders, no doubt, though they hardly looked the part. He carried on, "I'd say… some sort of instrument."

The male intruder with his large nose and ears that stuck out seemed to smile at him, briefly, before he said in a very Northern accent, "I really wouldn't hold it like that."

"Shut it!" Goddard ordered. It seemed she had fully accepted her mantle of power.

Ianto glanced at the object nervously, an instrument had really only been a guess, "Is it dangerous?"

The man smiled at him again, "No, it just looks silly." He held out his hand in a classic gesture of 'let me see.'

The security officers behind him readied their weapons, their safeties clicking off in a syncopated rhythm and the sound reverberating through the room. The man smiled again, this time tighter and aimed at van Statten. Ianto watched as his employer held up his hand to quell them and casually handed the object over. The man took it, carefully, and Ianto felt a strange sort of approval.

"You were right," The man said, looking at him now, "it is a musical instrument." His fingers glided over the object and it began to produce sound. Not sound Ianto dared to call beautiful, but certainly breathtaking. "You just have to be… delicate."

The man grinned again, glancing around the room, first to the young lady brought in with him, then to Goddard who still seemed unimpressed.

"Let me see," van Statten ordered and stood up to yank it back. He ran his fingers over it, producing a quiet noise that Ianto simply knew was very wrong.

"I did say delicate, reacts to the smallest fingerprint, needs precision," the man reminded, watching as Statten's fingers slowed and moved more gingerly. Eventually the instrument began sounding much more like it had when the intruder held it. "Very good. Quite the expert," he commented, a touch impressed.

"As are you," van Statten replied. Then tossed the device. Ianto couldn't help but reflexively reach after it. He hated the reckless way the wealthy American handled… well, everything, but especially the alien technology he was given. Not even because it was expensive, but because that was part of another world. Another culture. A tiny hint of a place Ianto would never go, but could taste through the music. He masked his displeasure with professionalism, the persona that kept him employed.

"And who exactly are you?" van Statten asked.

"I'm the Doctor, and who are you?" The man retorted, expression far more stern. Ianto supposed he didn't like the blatant disregard for a fragile instrument any more than he did. There was the faintest hint of a kindred spirit between them, or perhaps the loneliness was finally getting to him.

"Oh, like you don't know," scoffed van Statten, at the Doctor's blank expression he continued, "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra terrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."

The skepticism was palpable.

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah," the Doctor replied, smiling once more. Like he couldn't be more pleased with the situation. Van Statten was less amused as he walked out from behind his mahogany desk, forcing Ianto to swiftly step out of the way. He strode towards the Doctor, all arrogance and swagger. It was almost a shame the Doctor was at least an inch and a half taller.

"The question is, how did you get in? Fifty-three floors down with your little cat-burglar accomplice. Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."

"She's going to smack you if you keep calling her 'she'." The young blonde sassed, Cockney accent dripping from every word.

Van Statten's features tightened, "She's English too," he tossed his head in Ianto's direction, "Hey, Little Lord Fauntleroy, I found you a girlfriend."

Ianto didn't react. After all, so many years of working with a man who called him various derogatory names relating to a culture that was not even his rendered being dubbed a children's storybook character inoffensive.

"This is Mr. Henry van Statten," Ianto introduced and offered a bland smile.

The blonde looked at him, having decided he must be easier to talk to than the pretentious man-in-charge, "And who is he when he's at home?"

"Mr. van Statten owns the internet."

The young woman looked at him like he was daft, he understood, he'd thought like too, "Don't be stupid," she said, "no one  _owns_  the internet."

"And let's keep the whole world thinking that way, right kid?"

The Doctor was still apathetic, "So you're an expert at just about everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand you lock up."

If the atmosphere had been tense before it was doubly so now. Mr. Henry van Statten did not respond well to insults, overt or implied. Ianto's eyes flickered between the two men.

"And you claim greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to lay claims, I know how good I am," and even though the words were arrogant the Doctor didn't sound it at all. And for that Ianto was inclined to believe him.

"And yet I captured you," van Statten retorted loftily. He even added a tinge of false confusion. The man was a master at condescension, something Ianto had also grown much too accustomed to over the years. He looked to the girl and noticed she too was following the parry of words, her expressive eyes bounding from the Doctor to van Statten. "Right next to the Cage, tell me, what were you doing down there?"

The Doctor still looked severe and Ianto almost missed the smiles he'd been granted earlier. How sad that those had been the closest to gestures of affection he'd received in a very long time.

"You tell me."

"The Cage contains my one living specimen." Van Statten revealed. That creature, the one no one wanted to mention but everyone knew about. He'd looked in on it a few times on the CCTV wired throughout the building; he'd seen what Simmons did. He'd seen the man who burst into flames after he'd touched it. He wasn't sure if he pitied the creature or feared it. The strange 'Metaltron' tucked away in the bowels of the Earth.

"What is it?" the Doctor demanded.

"Like you don't know," was scoffed again. Ianto believed them though. These two intruders really didn't know who Henry van Statten was, or of the things he kept stored away.

"Show me," the Doctor commanded, his voice growing agitated as their verbal swordplay increased in speed and fervor.

"You wanna see it?" van Statten challenged. Ianto was certain something was up, his employer had something planned for their guests.

"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." The young woman commented, and Ianto actually laughed at it causing all attention to suddenly fall on him. He cleared his throat and offered another professional smile. Time and a place, he chastised himself, time and a place.

Van Statten looked annoyed, but ignored it for the time being, "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down."

She nodded in the affirmative and tapped her earpiece as she left to summon the lift. A quick series of buttons were all that was required.

"You, English _,_  take the girl. Go canoodle or spoon… whatever it is you British do." He spat with disgust. Clearly Ianto's laughter, while upsetting, was not enough for an all out dismissal. Perhaps he should be grateful he wasn't going to end up in New York, New Orleans, or Newark someplace beginning with 'N.'

The lift doors opened up behind them and van Statten moved for it with his gaze fixed on the Doctor. Gone was much of the anger, replaced by a level of confidence that Ianto found unnerving. Both the girl and the Doctor watched as Goddard stepped inside, a dark look of foreboding passing between them for a second before van Statten spoke up.

"And you, Doctor-with-no-name, come and see my pet."

 

                                                                                         *~R~*

 

"So where exactly are we going?" Rose asked, trailing along behind the man who was probably Welsh and not British. He gave her one of those small smiles, before he answered with, 'to make coffee.'

And that was how she found herself sitting at a table in a rather impressive break room while the Welshman started a brew. Normally she would opt for tea, but she'd heard it wasn't quite that prevalent in America and he'd offered coffee so politely she would have felt like a cad demanding tea instead. Rose looked around the very clean white room, noting the refrigerator, microwave and stove were all shined to perfection.

"Quite a set up," she commented for lack of anything to say.

"One of the perks of working for the man who owns the internet, I suppose." The man responded affably. He didn't seem like a bad bloke, nice hair, cute bum.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?" Rose asked.

The man blinked in confusion as he set a cuppa in front of her and sat down across the table. It smelled heavenly, the coffee that was, though he didn't smell bad either. A nice aftershave, not applied too heavily like some men tended to do.

"Oh," he said as it registered, "You mean the 'English' comments?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not only rude, he's wrong. You're… Welsh, aren't you?" Rose asked, the last bit a touch unsure. She didn't want to seem just as ignorant as van Statten or whatever his name was.

The man gave her another polite smile, "I am. Ianto Jones… you don't get much more Welsh."

It was her turn to smile, "No, I suppose not. Rose Tyler, by the way," she raised the porcelain to her lips and took a sip, "Gor Blimey! That's good!"

She blushed a little as Ianto chuckled. She hadn't meant to be that enthusiastic but, "I'm serious, that's  _really_  good."

Ianto's smile looked a little more genuine as he took a sip from his own beverage. Rose set her cup down and tried to school her features into a modicum of seriousness.

"You didn't answer, why would you let him treat you like that? It's not right."

The polite smile was back, but Rose sensed it wasn't aimed at her and was something like a coping mechanism, "Mr. van Statten doesn't respond well to those who speak up or resign…"

The implication hung in the air and Rose felt her mouth drop a little and she had to fight to compose herself. She should have realized, if he treated those currently in his employment as rudely as he did he certainly wouldn't treat those that _left_  better. She hated to imagine what happened to those that were fired.

"O-oh, I see."

Ianto looked a touch uncomfortable, as if he had been at fault for the wave of awkwardness. He sipped at his coffee and then spoke up again, "Would you like to see some more of the artifacts?"

Rose beamed at him over her mug.

                                                                                       --

"My apologies for the mess," Ianto said as they stepped inside the room. Rose fixed him with a skeptic look and wondered what mess he could possibly mean. The folder next to the single hunk of metal on the table? What would he have thought of her flat with her mum's things strewn about and dishes piled up in the sink?

The rest of the room was carefully organized, file drawers lined the walls and there were both clear and opaque containment boxes that were obviously used for storage of the aforementioned artifacts. It was all clearly labeled and tucked away neatly. Rose turned her attention back to Ianto who was bent over to close one of the containment bins. He did have a nice bum, Rose observed.

"What's that?" She couldn't help but ask. Ianto was holding out what appeared to be a simple metal sphere.

He smiled at her, a surprisingly attractive and boyish smile, "Watch."

Ianto pressed a button and the sphere levitated almost half a foot before it began rearranging itself into something that almost looked like a vehicle. Rose stared at it in awe and excitement and she gently reached out to touch it. The device contracted back into the sphere within seconds.

"Brilliant!" Rose exclaimed, laughing, "What is it? Like some sort of children's toy or something?"

Ianto nodded, and then amended, "Well, I think so, at least. Hard to be certain."

Rose hummed in agreement and pressed the button again, delighted as it changed into a robot with slightly too long arms. She laughed again and looked at Ianto who now wore a distant expression on his face. "What?" She asked.

"Just imagining, I mean, I know it sounds daft, but…" Ianto hesitated, then he shook his head, "Obviously something else created this. Sometimes I wonder what it must be like out among the stars. The whole universe must be filled with life, life like ours with children playing with toys and yet so vastly different."

Rose studied him, feeling a connection to his heartfelt words, "I don't think that's daft at all."

Ianto seemed uncomfortable again and Rose felt like she had somehow intruded on his personal thoughts. She pressed the device again, turning it back into a sphere and handing it to him.

"So, if you're so interested in aliens… why aren't you down there with the live one?" Rose challenged, her voice playful despite her innate curiosity to learn more about whatever the Doctor was looking at.

"You mean the Metaltron?" Ianto asked, roused from the slightly melancholic mood he'd slipped into.

Rose quirked an eyebrow, "'Metaltron'?"

Ianto went sheepish, "That's what the others call it. Mr. van Statten keeps it secret, but I… took the liberty of patching through the CCTV."

Roses' eyebrows raised again and a wide grin broke out over her face. Apparently there was more to Ianto Jones than smart suits and polite manners, she liked it. "Can we see it? The 'Metaltron'?" She almost laughed over the name.

The Welshman went to the computer and started typing furiously until a video feed popped up. Rose stepped closer and Ianto moved back to let her.

It was a hulking thing, bound in chains. It looked… honestly it looked like a salt shaker with a stick jutting out at the top of the dome. It was copper-colored with strange bulbous protrusions on its lower half. Then she noticed the plunger and the whisk in place of where limbs might have been found.

"Is that it? That big… pepper pot?" She asked, dubiously, pointing at the screen.

"Yep." Ianto replied.

"It's not doing much," She commented, a few seconds before a man in a bright orange hazmat styled suit entered what must have been the Cage van Statten kept mentioning.

"Yeah, it sits there most of the time," Ianto explained as he put away the metal plaything and then walked back over. A frown graced his features as he saw the man, he reached over to close the window but Rose stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

"What's he going to do?" She asked needlessly as the man began doing something that caused the creature to emit a metallic sounding screech. It was absolutely horrid and conveyed a pain that was easy to understand as it echoed. "Ianto, what's he  _doing_? He's torturing it! Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know," Ianto said honestly.

"Take me down there now!" Rose demanded, shouldering passed him in her haste. Ianto followed swiftly on her heels. Good.

 

                                                                                        .[D].

 

The Doctor breathed heavily, his bare chest heaving with each inhale and exhale, as the pain finally subsided. There was a living breathing Dalek and no one was going to stop it. Henry van Statten thought he could keep it locked away and maybe he could have if he and Rose had never come here. It was awake now. It would come for him following the primary directive of all Daleks.

Exterminate.

They would all die if van Statten wouldn't change his mind. Goddard. Simmons. The clever young man they'd met in the office. Rose. God **,**  not Rose. Not wonderful, brilliant, fantastic Rose Tyler.

He couldn't let that happen.

 

                                                                                         {-I-}

 

Ianto flashed his clearance badge at the security officers who had always been a bit too quick to point their weapons for his taste. Rose hardly seemed to notice them as she barreled into the room. She only slowed when she caught sight of it, silent now that Simmons had gone.

"Careful," He warned as she stepped nearer. Ianto followed despite his instincts screaming to stay away. He'd seen what it could do, and that was enough for his survival mechanisms to kick in.

Rose was only a foot or two away when she started trying to communicate with it, "Hello?"

She was treating it like a child, her voice soft and coaxing, and for all they knew it was a child. Ianto frowned at the thought, he may not have cared for the Metaltron but the thought of it only being a child that they tortured day in and day out did not sit well.

"Hello, are you in pain?" Rose persisted, clearly fighting down a swell of emotions, "My name's Rose Tyler, I've got a friend; he's called the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Ye-es," a metallic voice said, stretching out the word and warping it. Ianto looked on in shock. It was talking! The Metaltron was talking! All of Simmons' drilling and grinding at the metal plates for nothing. All it needed was a kind voice.

"What?" Rose asked, confusion coloring the word.

"I… am in… pain."

Ianto dared to get closer, to hear the creature better.

"They tor-ture me," the Metaltron continued, its speech slow and tinny, "And still they fear me."

Ianto looked down out of guilt. He had feared the creature, though it had done nothing. The man it had killed had probably been out of defense. He realized he might have done much the same had he been in the same position. Anyone would were they thrust inside a small room and experimented on endlessly.

"Do you fear me?" It asked.

Rose shook her head, "No."

The eyestalk, or what Ianto assumed was an eyestalk given the shape and the glowing blue light, lowered in a very human expression of despair. Ianto felt his throat tighten with something like remorse. Even if he hadn't been the one to hurt this creature he had done nothing to stop it either. He had put his own life ahead, justified his inaction with the memories of all the others who dared have thoughts. Who spoke up against wrongs.

Henry van Statten was a monster, but Ianto Jones was a coward. He went through his life in the background, never daring to be great, never risking anything. And he knew why. Suddenly he felt almost overcome with the discontentment of how he'd lived to this point. Of how much he'd shied away from in the twenty-three years he'd lived. He had sworn to put the past behind him and yet it tempered everything he did.

The masks he wore… The shadows he made his home…

And Rose Tyler, a young girl, who couldn't have been more than twenty, stood bravely trying to help a creature she knew nothing about, other than its victimization. She stood head and shoulders above the rest with her genuine morality and righteousness. A beacon that humanity was not solely comprised of the selfish and the cowardly.

"I am… dying." The strange grating voice clashed with Ianto's thoughts and brought him back to the room.

"No—No, we can help," Rose insisted, concerned.

The eyestalk lifted some, "I welcome death, but… I am… glad that before I die, I met a hu-man that was not afraid."

For some reason Ianto would swear red flags were raised in his head. That sounded too manipulative. Too much like the creature was trying to evoke sympathy, perhaps it was paranoia but those words circled in his mind as he tried to fathom what the creature wanted. Ianto pushed down the feeling, he was probably reading too much into it.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" She asked. Ianto drew closer until he was standing next to Rose, she looked to him, her warm brown eyes soft and almost ready to cry.

"My race is dead," the Metaltron revealed, eyestalk dipping again, "I shall die a-lone."

Rose bit her lip, and before Ianto could fully process what she was doing she reached out and gently rested her hand on the domed portion of the creature.

"Rose! No!" Ianto cried out ripping her hand off the metal and pulling her away. She was hissing in pain and staring at her hand in horror, but Ianto only felt relieved it hadn't been worse.

"Collecting material! Extrapolated! Initiate cellular regeneration!"

Ianto stared, gobsmacked, as the Metaltron shouted, its speech speeding up in what he might have termed excitement in a human. He could feel Rose clutching his sleeve as he unconsciously pulled her closer to his chest. They were both backing toward the door to the Cage.

Rose flinched as the chains snapped and sparks went off, the light of which was near blinding and the noise almost deafening.

Simmons stormed in barking, "What the hell did you do?" before haughtily marching up to the creature with his drill. They both watched nervously as the Metaltron lifted up its plunger-like appendage.

"What'cha gonna do?" Simmons demanded, hands idly resting on his equipment, "Sucker me to death?"

The limb extended, latching onto his nose and mouth. His screams were muted but the sounds of the bones in his jaw being crushed were incredibly loud. Rose gasped and fled into the monitoring station. Faintly he could hear her cries for help, shouts for the security officers to do  _something_ , but he felt paralyzed. Rooted to the spot as the smashing of bones dragged on endlessly while the muffled shouts of agony faded from existence.

"Ianto! Get out of there!" Rose shouted, suddenly back and pulling on his arm.

When Simmons fell to the floor, a sickening 'pop' resounding before the low thud of flesh against concrete, Ianto finally found the ability to run.

 

                                                                                    .[D].

 

The worst ofthe Doctor's fears were realized as the claxon sounded. His head felt heavy and his entire body ached, but he would sooner die than do nothing. He wouldn't do it for this Henry van Statten. He would do it for his people. For the innocent people here. For Rose Tyler.

He lifted his head, blue eyes piercing and daring van Statten to refuse.

"Release me if you want to live." The Doctor commanded, his voice only tinged with the weariness he felt seeping into his marrow and mingling with the dread already present.

He would end this. Here and now. The final battle of the Time War, the last Time Lord and the last Dalek.

                                                                                      --

The Doctor rushed out, fully dressed once more, and immediately went to the large display showing the monitoring station for the Cage. He was more relieved than he thought possible to see Rose standing there completely unharmed, even if she was fifty three floors down and the image of her was grainy.

"You've got to keep it in that cell!" He ordered, and Rose turned to the screen. She looked shaken, but otherwise healthy. It was only then he wondered what she was doing down there.

"Doctor, it's all my fault," she said, voice unsteady. Before he could soothe her guilt, one of the security officers moved forward and boasted about the billion combinations on the lock. Humans.

"Daleks are geniuses, it can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat," the Doctor spat, hoping he could make one of these apes understand the danger they were all in. He watched, helplessly, as the security personnel trained their guns on the door. Those weapons would be useless against a Dalek but the Doctor didn't have any other options for them.

His hearts sped up as the Cage opened and the Dalek ventured out.

"Open fire!" One of the officers shouted

The shots rang out. Their ineffectual rounds split the air as the Dalek continued to move forward. The ammunition was being melted down before it could even leave so much as a dent in the metal shielding protecting the abomination. The creature that laid waste to the Doctor'speople, to anything that wasn't like it. Rage and sorrow threatened to engulf him. So much death. So much destruction. For nothing!

"Don't shoot, I want it alive!" van Statten protested, his voice a whine. The Doctor had no time for him.

"Rose get out of there!" He urged, wishing his voice would rise above the din. He felt useless here in van Statten's posh office, the scent of expensive cigars clinging to the air and making him sick with the reminder of the owner's indolence. He couldn't even see what was going on, but at least Rose was no longer on the screen.

The two security officers fell, and van Statten showed no concern or remorse for his people. Even Goddard looked a little stricken. They all watched uselessly as the Dalek set his plunger-shaped limb to the monitor, wiping out the picture but the sound remained, albeit filled with heavy static.

Goddard dashed for the computer, typing rapidly as images flashed to life, "We're losing power," she announced, "Oh my god, it's draining the base. It's taking power from all of Utah."

A map of America appeared, Utah highlighted, then a neighboring state, and another until the entire west cost of the United States was colored grey.

"Sir, the entire west cost is down."

The Doctor looked on, "It's not just energy, it's downloaded the entire internet. It knows everything."

Goddard was horrified, but van Statten just didn't seem to understand. How much more did he need? How many more lives would be wasted? It was men like van Statten that really made him question his desire to protect the human race. Men who were so blind and so selfish that they allowed travesties like this to occur.

"Let Daleks survive in me," was heard through the still operational sound relay, followed by the unmistakable sound of Dalek firepower. That meant it was working again. The Dalek had fully repaired itself. The Doctor's throat constricted, a damaged Dalek was one thing, a fully functional Dalek…

"We've lost all cameras in the vault." Goddard informed them, distress clear on her face. She understood.

The Doctor faced van Statten, "We've only got emergency power, it's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now."

The man had the nerve to gaze at him with confliction etched in his features. Even after all this he still put his prize ahead of the lives of his employees.

"All security personnel to converge on the Metaltron Cage immediately," Goddard issued through the communications device. They still had no video feed but the audio was enough. Gun bursts in confined spaces and the sickening sound of concentrated electrical pulses painted a grizzly picture. But the gun fire grew less and less while the electricity never waned.

"Tell them to stop shooting!" van Statten demanded.

"But it's killing them!" Goddard argued, and the Doctor was glad someone else was trying to get through to the man.

"They're all dispensable, that Dalek is unique! I don't want a scratch on its body work! Do you hear me?" The man barked furiously, "Do you hear me?"

Silence.

The sound of bullets no longer rang out, and the Doctor knew what that meant. Realization dawned on the two humans with him seconds later and they all fell quiet as the loss of life sunk in.

Goddard seemed to force her emotions away and pulled up the blueprints for the base. She pointed out their location, where the cage was in relation and finally she pointed to the small moving dot. The Dalek.

"This museum of yours, have you got any alien weapons?" the Doctor asked, choosing to ignore Statten for as long as he could and focus on the woman who was doing her best to help in light of the developments.

"Oh, lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek is between us and them." She answered, indicating she had considered it previously. Good for her, she was clever after all.

"We've got to keep it alive," the American insisted, "We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."

The Doctor leveled him with a stern gaze, his disgust evident as he spoke, "Leaving everyone trapped with it? Rose is down there. I won't let that happen, have you got that?"

Henry seemed cowed for the moment, not daring to speak back as the Doctor refocused on Goddard and the layout. He studied the screen carefully and pointed, "It's got to go through this area. What's that?"

"Weapons testing."

The Doctor nodded, he could think of something, "Give guns to everyone. The technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance at killing it."

 

                                                                                      {-I-}

 

They were running for their lives when they ended up at the stairwell. The large yellow box inscribed with the number 53 dominated the wall. Rose turned to look at Ianto, and let out a small contented chuckle.

"Stairs! Now that's more like it! It hasn't got any legs, it's stuck!" She cheered, grabbing his arms. He smiled back, hysteric with relief. She was right, maybe they had a chance of containing this thing after all. The security woman, De Maggio the man had called her, joined them nearly shoving them up the stairs as he barked at them. They didn't need to be told twice and they darted up the first flight faster than Ianto had thought himself capable.

Curiosity spurred them to stop, clinging to the hand rails and panting as they watched for the Metaltron. Ianto wished they had called it something catchier.

The wait wasn't long and the creature's eyestalk moved up and down in clear contemplation.

Ianto looked at Rose, "Big alien death machine bested by stairs."

She smiled at him, her chest heaving with each intake of breath. Not that he was doing any better. De Maggio started speaking, ordering the Metaltron to stand down and apologizing on behalf of everyone for the torture it endured. Someone should, he supposed, but it was a bit late for that. The eyestalk focused on them, the blue light ominous.

Then it spoke and Ianto's stomach would have emptied itself had he ingested anything aside from coffee this morning.

"Elevate."

It started to rise above the ground and Ianto let out a silent curse before nudging Rose, "Run!"

De Maggio looked him in the eye, resignation in the set of her jaw, "Get her out of here."

Rose turned back, pulling on De Maggio's shoulder, "Come with us, you can't stop it." Ianto silently agreed.

"Someone's got to try," She retorted and began shoving them again, "now get out! Run! And don't look back!"

Ianto knew there wasn't any changing the woman's mind, even if he pointed out that others had already tried. She was merely buying them time and he would never be able to thank her. Gunshots were quickly becoming a familiar sound and they ran as hard as they could. The whirr of the beam followed by an agonized scream had Rose whipping her head back and slowing.

Ianto took hold of her arm, "You can't, we have to keep going."

Her brown eyes locked onto his before she squeezed them shut and ran harder. They ran and ran and it felt like it would never stop, his lungs threatened to explode but they had to keep going. Rose was falling behind, his longer strides pulling him ahead and he blindly reached for her hand. He couldn't lose her, she was the one good person he'd had the fortune of meeting in a long timeand she didn't deserve to die.

They ran straight into the weapons training room and Ianto was stunned to find guns pointed at them.

"Civilians, hold your fire! You two get the hell out of there!" A voice commanded. He was running before he'd even processed the order, even as his muscles protested against it. They didn't stop until they were behind the men and women in black uniforms. Ianto noticed Rose turned around but he couldn't watch. He didn't want to see that thing, he wanted to keep going. As soon as the air stopped feeling like fire burning through his nose and lungs.

He could hear the Metaltron, the sound of machinery filling the cavernous room. Ianto reached out for Rose and pulled her away.

"It was looking at me," Rose said, breathless still. Ianto just blinked at her, "It was looking right at me."

Ianto was at a loss. The thing was probably looking everywhere. He could see her frustration at his lack of understanding.

"I don't know, it's like there's something inside looking at me, like it knows me." She tried to elaborate. Ianto frowned, his mouth falling open to offer an explanation that wouldn't come. He had no idea what that creature was, and he exhaled a puff of air unable to think of anything at all. He was supposed to know everything.

Suddenly he felt like he had so much to learn.

"Let's keep moving," he offered finally. His legs throbbed, but not painfully, and his breathing was even again.

Rose swallowed, still bothered by the thought of the creature looking at her no doubt, but she nodded her head and they took off running again. No sense wasting precious time. The security officers would afford them a bit more of it, but Ianto didn't believe they stood a chance.

The first shots were fired and Ianto turned. He should be there shouldn't he? He should be with the rest of the staff fighting to give Rose a chance, he had almost turned around when Rose stopped him.

"Don't you dare Ianto Jones," she said, voice thick with emotion, "don't you dare."

So he didn't. They kept running like the devil was on their heels because it very well may be. He and Rose ran up staircase after staircase, hearts pumping blood at dangerous rates and their breaths ragged and loud reverberating in the enclosed space. Ianto had just been growing used to that noise when the sound of a ringing mobile was added.

He stared at Rose who was fishing the device out of her pocket and answering it, "Not the best time."

An understatement that was certain.

"Forty-nine." Rose said. It was always a little jarring hearing half of a conversation, "Can't you stop them closing?"

The slightly panicked tone was not good and Ianto was almost certain it meant they were shutting the bulkheads. They needed to get to floor forty-six and they needed to get there now. Machinery droned behind them. The Metaltron. It wasn't that far behind. They ran faster, footsteps loud and heavy as their muscles worked double time to carry them to safety.

"Aha! Floor forty-six," Ianto cried out, pushing the door open and urging Rose through ahead of him. He couldn't help but peer down to see if he could judge how close the creature was. He caught sight of it two levels down, but gaining quickly. He tore his gaze away and bolted, easily catching up with Rose. She was still holding the mobile to her ear and he hoped that meant they wouldn't close the bulkhead until they crossed.

With van Statten in charge he wasn't going to count on it.

"Just a few more seconds we're almost there!" Rose shouted into the line. Ianto's head was pounding, but he couldn't rest, not when they were so close. A gasp ripped from his throat as he fought for more oxygen. His body screamed.

The few seconds may as well have been a lifetime as they rounded the corner. The bulkhead door was visible and blessedly opened. They were so close, they could make it. Any moment and they'd be out of this mess. And the first thing he was going to do was resign. Henry van Statten was nothing compared to an alien death machine.

He glanced at Rose, struggling to keep up and he reached out for her hand again. They both turned as they heard the monster behind them. How could it be so fast? They whipped forward again as an even worse sound pierced the air. The bulkhead was closing.

The bulkhead was closing!

They weren't going to make it, it was shutting too fast.

"No! No!" Rose was shouting into her mobile. It wasn't helping. The door was still sliding down. Their chance at surviving this ordeal going down with it. He wondered if Rose would let him borrow the phone so he could tell van Statten exactly where to shove it. Assuming they even had enough time for that brief exchange.

Wait!

Yes!

God yes!

There was enough room, they could make it!

"Roll!" Ianto shouted as he dropped to the floor and barreled through to the other side. He was dizzy, but he shook it off and looked for Rose who had been right behind him.

Shit. Shit. Shit. She had fallen and he hadn't even realized. She was staring back him apologetically.

"Rose! Rose!" He yelled as the door closed. He hoisted himself to his feet and beat against it. No! He had meant to save her! She didn't deserve this! She was still so young, her whole life was ahead of her, this wasn't right. She had been right behind him!

He heard her voice, soft and muffled by the solid metal door.

No! His mind protested. It should be him. She was innocent in all this. She didn't even work here. He hit the door with his fist. It barely made noise. The Metaltron would be on her by now…

"Exterminate!"

"No!" Ianto shouted.

It didn't change anything. The sound of the beam slicing through the air filled his ears and turned his stomach.

Rose was dead.

 

                                                                                      .[D].

 

Oh, he could throw accusations at van Statten all he liked and he did. They wouldn't bring Rose back. His vicious rhetoric was merely that, words designed to hurt. At least they were true. Van Statten was only dragging down bits of the galaxy and tossing them away like old rubbish. Like that musical instrument. The Doctor wondered if it was still lying on the floor, or if some member of van Statten's staff had come to clean it up.

He turned away angrily. Sadly.

The lift doors opened and he opened his mouth, ready to tear a strip out of the man that exited. Boy, really, he was so young. He met blue eyes that looked almost as miserable as he felt, and the urge to snipe at him for leaving Rose behind vanished. It wasn't his fault, and he was clearly haunted. Understanding passed between them, limited, but still there. This mere boy who knew nothing had still realized how magnificent Rose was.

"A few more seconds," he spoke. A quiet sort of anger, and the Doctor flinched because he was right. A few seconds would have saved her life, but he had denied her those precious few units of time. He was a Time Lord, he was supposed to have all the time in the universe, and yet he never had  _enough_.

The display winked to life and the Doctor had whipped his head around so fast he pulled something in his neck. What he saw erased all thoughts of pain.

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies," the words washed over him. He heard them but he didn't. A grin split his face even as he felt the air from his lungs knocked out of him. Rose was standing there, she was nervous-- there was Dalek just beside her, of course she was nervous, but she was there standing and…

"You-you're alive!" He gasped, relief sweeping over him. And she was! Oh, and she'd never looked more beautiful!

"Can't get rid of me," she joked. His hearts soared in spite of the danger. There was hope. Rose Tyler was alive! He didn't have the words for the elation bubbling inside him.

"I thought you were dead," he heard himself say, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of Rose Tyler.  _Alive_! He couldn't get over it. The lights on the Dalek were flashing angrily and the Doctor realized he needed to get things under control. Both the situation and his emotions.

"Open the bulkhead!" It screeched.

"Don't do it," Rose interjected.

"What use are e-motions if you will not save the wo-man you love?" The Dalek demanded in its shrill voice. It was the one thing they could agree on, that was. He looked to van Statten. That man was nothing but a slimy worm, fearful for his life. He looked to the Welshman, also fearful but his eyes flickered back to Rose.

"Please, you can't let her-" the young man started.

"I already killed her once," the Doctor said, and the boy looked like he'd been stricken, "I can't do it again." He reached over and hit the enter key.

The relief that flooded across the young man's features before he composed himself was enough to make the Doctor like him, and wonder how he had ended up in van Statten's hands. Everyone's attentions returned the screen as the seal opened and the Dalek moved forward with Rose.

"What do we do now? What do we do now, you bleeding heart?  _What the hell do we do?_ " van Statten angrily shouted, pacing around the table like a caged animal. Almost ironic, that. He had a point though, they needed a plan. A plan that would save everyone.

"We have to kill it," came a slightly subdued tone. A Welsh accented one.

The boy was a lot calmer, and stood staring blankly with his hands in his suitpockets. So maybe calm wasn't the best description, he was still rattled obviously, but hiding it. Aside from the slightly distant look in his eyes anyone would say he was unruffled.

Goddard looked at him, tension riddling through her body and voice as she barked, "All the guns are useless, and the alien ones are in the vault."

"Only the ones I finished cataloguing," the young man replied. Oh, this boy! Fantastic!

"Show me," he ordered and they were on their way. Measured clips filling the tiled corridors as they grimly marched on.

"I never got your name, you introduced Mr. van Statten but not yourself."

The boy gave him a sideways look. Had to, he was walking directly to his left. The Doctor wasn't much for following.

"Ianto Jones, sir," the youth relented. The Doctor smiled at him, and got a shy one in return before those features hardened once more, and he offered a solemn: "We're here."

"There's no need to call me 'sir' you know," the Doctor said casually as he entered. He took in how well-organized the room was and found he didn't need to ask where the un-cataloged weapons were.

Ianto hung back a few paces, "Sorry, sir." Then it dawned on him he'd said 'sir' again and he awkwardly cleared his throat and looked pointedly away. The Doctor laughed a private chuckle as he carefully picked through the pile.

"No, broken," he tossed it aside, no time to be neat, it was a big sturdy thing anyway, "also broken. Useless."

He picked up the second to last one, "This is a Crucian hair dryer, where did you even get this?"

Ianto ducked his head, seemingly embarrassed at incorrectly sorting it; it was an easy mistake though. He answered with, "Cardiff,Wales. That's where… almost everything comes from."

The Doctor nodded, that made sense. That Rift must still be spewing out all sorts of debris. The rubbish depot of the universe, Cardiff; and he almost said that before he remembered Ianto was Welsh and wouldn't appreciate it. He was getting better about that kind of thing, despite what Rose claimed.

"Oh yes," he said, hoisting out a fully equipped Horizon-Energy Kit. It blasted pure heat- hot as the sun even, which was why it had been banned from use by the Shadow Proclamation. It was perfect, heat couldn't be melted now could it? He armed it, praying it was functional still. "Lock and load."

He grinned at Ianto, "Now, stay here. I'm going to save Rose."

 

                                                                                       *~R~*

 

She was still wary of the, well, now she knew it was called a Dalek, but she could tell it was changing. It wasn't going to kill her. This Dalek had been born to be a killing machine, but now it was learning. It was seeing it didn't have to kill. She was proof of that, van Statten was proof of that. It didn't need to be locked up or destroyed.

It could be free.

She and the Doctor could take it somewhere, anywhere, and it could live the rest of its life however long that was.

They were in a big empty room above ground now. Rose couldn't help but flinch as the Dalek blasted a hole through the roof, steel bars and concrete clattering to the floor and skidding across. Sunlight shone through, highlighting little specks of dust as they floated down. The particulates almost sparkled as they fell, looking more radiant than what they were.

"You're out, you made it," she said, smiling at the creature. It didn't respond. "I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."

She basked in it for a moment, reveling in where she was. Utah, 2012, with an alien learning how to finally exist in this whole wide universe.

"How does it feel?" It asked. Lights flickering as it articulated.

There was a soft series of whirrs and clicks and other mechanical noises and the metal plates in the middle began to shift. Sliding out and down or out and up along with hisses of what may have been water vapor though there was no steam. Rose circled around, tense. She needed to see the thing inside. The thing that looked at her and  _saw_  in a way nothing else did. Nothing else could. The Dalek had her DNA, didn't it?

She swallowed down the felling of unease and watched as a pale tentacle-like appendage stretched out to touch the single ray of light streaming in. It was slick with something, and she ignored her initial disgust. She gazed into the single eye and couldn't reconcile this poor creature with the machine that it operated. It was so small, and fragile. She could see its brain protruding out, no skull or anything to protect it. Just a lonely metal case, for a lonely little creature.

"Get out of the way!"

She jumped, even though she recognized the voice. The Doctor; she turned to face him and was shocked to see a large gun in his hands. It was horrifying and wrong in his hands.

"Rose, get out of the way now!" He barked at her.

She couldn't believe this, "No, because I won't let you do this." This wasn't like her Doctor at all. What had happened to him?

"That thing killed hundreds of people." He spat. She couldn't remember him being so angry, or so vicious. He was supposed to save living things, she couldn't let him do this.

"It's not the one pointing the gun at me."

And he didn't seem to care, "I've got to do this, I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people! I've got nothing left!"

But this one hadn't. This one hadn't done anything on that scale, it was different, why couldn't the Doctor see that? He saw everything, he was supposed to know everything. How could he be so wrong?

"But… look at it," she said, stepping back just a bit and turning to face it herself before looking at the Doctor once more.

He seemed nonplussed, and had lowered the weapon a fraction, "What's it doing?"

"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." She explained, begging him to see it. To see this Dalek wasn't the same, it wasn't going to kill anything anymore.

"It can't—"

Rose cut him off, "It couldn't kill van Statten, it couldn't kill me, it's changing."

He seemed even more confused now, dumbfounded.

"And what about you, Doctor, what the hell are you changing into?" She asked. She knew her voice was shaking, she couldn't help it and she didn't want to. It worked though, he let the gun fall and his gaze shifted from her to it as he struggled to speak.

"I couldn't… I wasn't…" His voice was thick with emotion too, "Oh, Rose, they're all dead."

The Dalek speaking so suddenly surprised her, "Why do we survive?"

"I don't know." And she'd never heard the Doctor sound so lost. So broken.

"I am the last of the Daleks." Its voice was slow and the words stretched out, the 's' hissed out with the impression of pain. Its single eye staring right through her and making her feel small and useless just like the sorrow etched in the Doctor's face. Both of them were broken, broken by some stupid war so long ago that she didn't know anything about. She just wanted to help them but she didn't know where to begin.

"You're not even that," The Doctor piped in, "Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutated."

"Into  _what_?" The Dalek demanded.

"Something new," was the Doctor's simple answer. Rose looked between the two as the pieces seemed to click into place. It was because of her. She was the reason it couldn't kill anymore. She had changed it.

"I'm sorry."

The apology confused her, "Isn't that better?" Wasn't it good? It wouldn't kill anymore. The Dalek could be free. Why was the Doctor sorry? It didn't make any sense and she searched his features for some sort of answer.

"Not for a Dalek." He responded. Rose still couldn't understand.

"I can feel. So many ideas. So much darkness." She turned to face the sickly looking creature, golden eye still searing into her, "Rose, give me orders. Order me to die."

"I can't do that." She wouldn't. It didn't have to be like this. Hadn't there been enough death? Why wasn't it good that the Dalek was changing?

"This is not life," it said, it explained, "this is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction!" And there was so much hate still inside of it. So much hate for her and for itself, "Obey! Obey! Obey!"

It broke her heart, but she couldn't let it suffer, "Do it."

"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" Somehow it was mocking and sincere all at once.

"Yep." It was all she could manage.

"So am I," It revealed. She studied it, wishing it hadn't ended up like this.

"Exterminate!" It cried out and she ran. She ran out of fear, out pain, out of sorrow. She ran to the Doctor blindly and she forced herself to watch as the Dalek floated over the ground. As the orbs coating it burst out and formed a perfect sphere. She fought not to cry as the orbs crackled to life, charging before the air inside ignited in a ball of flame leaving no trace. No charred remains, no ashes.

She wasn't sure how long they'd stared at the empty air, but when the Doctor's warm hand covered her own she knew that this was somehow okay. Not good, but okay.

 

                                                                                         {-I-}

 

Ianto entered the fifty-third floor exhibit, all the pieces and parts of alien technology staring at him from behind plated glass. He knew each and every one of them because he'd labeled them all. The past two years of his life sat down here, peppered in on a few other levels but mostly here. He'd come for a last look. A final farewell to the bits of the universe unlucky enough to fall into van Statten's hands.

Low voices filled the silence.

No one was supposed to be down here. He followed the voices and somehow wasn't surprised to see Rose and the Doctor.

"This floor was evacuated already. Mr. van Statten has been reported missing and Miss. Goddard informed me they'll be filling the base with cement. We should probably leave sometime before that happens." He told them dryly, passing along a much more condensed version than the one he'd been granted.

Rose nodded her head in approval, while the Doctor eyed him in a manner that left him uncomfortable. As though he was being weighed and measured for something. The look passed and a bright familiar grin replaced it.

"What will you do?" He asked.

Ianto frowned, "I'll go back to Wales, I suppose."

Rose was looking at the Doctor with a playful and challenging expression, and the man returned it before offering, "You could come with us. Plenty of room, right **,**  Rose?"

She laughed as though that were a private joke.

"What? Break into more secret underground bases?" He asked, even though his heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. He was just glad to be invited along. Glad he was wanted, but he'd felt the same when van Statten's agent offered him the position here.

"I dunno," the Doctor replied carelessly, "I never know where we'll end up to be honest."

He had mentioned that.

"Come with us, Ianto." Rose implored, smiling at him as she bit her bottom lip. The Doctor entered the blue box and now that Ianto noticed it, he realized it was not part of van Statten's collection. He stared at it, and Rose giggled as she left his side and entered it. He gaped. What was a police phone box doing here? And why were they ducking inside it?

The Doctor popped his head out, "Are you coming, you mentioned something about concrete…?"

"Yes, but I don't see—"

He heard Rose groan good-naturedly and then she popped her head out, "Just get in already!" She made it sound like he was being unreasonable and he eyed them both dubiously before stepping inside.

His life would never be the same.


	2. The Long Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first trip out with Ianto Jones was supposed to be simple, just a little journey to tempt him to stay. The Doctor should know by now that nothing ever works that way. There's always a problem somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 10,000~  
> Beta:JolinarJackson

                                                                                Act the Second  
 _The Long Game_

 

The Doctor loved this part, there was nothing like the moment a new face stepped into the Tardis and Ianto Jones was no exception. The 21st century Welshman was letting his gaze roam, adjusting to the vastly different proportions. He looked back at the Doctor who couldn't have wiped the grin off his face if he tried.

"Not what I expected," he said dryly. The Doctor chuckled and flipped the controls.

"Hang on!" He shouted belatedly. Rose was laughing; a wonderful carefree laugh and he ached to think of how close he'd been to losing it forever. She was holding onto the main panel, while Ianto was clinging to one of the curved columns as the Tardis pitched from side to side, shaking violently as was her wont.

A great whooshing filled the air as the ship went still. The Doctor loved that part too. Best noise in the whole of time and space.

Ianto looked rattled, but then his features morphed back into impassive as he straightened his suit jacket and brushed away imagined dust.

"Um, Doctor, can I speak to you  _outside_?"Rose asked, and he frowned but nodded. They left Ianto inside, the Doctor was certain there was more he wanted to inspect and the Tardis would keep him out of places he shouldn't go. Sentient ships were a fantastic thing, and the Tardis was the most brilliant of them all.

"So, where are we?" She asked him almost immediately after they'd set foot outside.

"The year's 200,000 and it's a space ship," the Doctor answered, then reevaluated. Too big, "no, wait, space station."

She nodded and toyed with her hair a bit and then the Doctor understood. She wanted to impress their guest. He had kind of wanted to do the same, but he relented.

"You sure on that? Year 200,000?" Rose asked. He fought the urge to be offended.

"Yeah," he replied. Rose opened the door a crack and called for Ianto, who exited promptly.

The Welshman's mouth fell open a little and he quickly snapped it shut as he tried to process everything. His eyes scanning over every surface just as he had done in the Tardis.

"W-where are we?" He asked, as if he couldn't believe it.

Rose jumped in immediately, "Good question, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're in the year 200,000. Hm, listen," she paused to let him, "engines. I'd say, it's a space station, definitely a space station."

Ianto nodded mutely and the Doctor beamed. Rose was doing well. He hadn't mentioned the engines.

"Bit warm," Ianto commented as he tugged at his tie.

Rose nodded, "They could stand to turn the heating down."

How strange, it  _was_  warm. Now that was unusual. A space station like this could surely afford a decent cooling system. He considered taking off his jacket, but changed his mind. It might be cooler in the main area rather than the storage room he'd parked in, which had been deliberate should anyone care to ask. He also considered giving Ianto a few minutes to wrap his head around the fact he was thousands of years in the future. Time travel was like swimming though, sometimes you just had to jump right in.

"C'mon," he said and started for the small metal gate. He tried to open it and found it was locked, not that locked gates were ever a problem. He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and waved it over until the lock clicked.

Ianto was staring at the device, "A lockpick?"

The Doctor smiled, "Better! A screwdriver!"

He pulled open the gate and ushered them passed it, eager to show more of the universe to both of them. Rose went through first, but there was flicker of doubt across Ianto's face. The Doctor smiled at him, and he looked contrite.

"Sorry, all a bit much," Ianto said stiffly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm right here."

That seemed to settle him and he ducked inside, climbing up the ladder and reaching the landing. The Doctor joined them and found it was an observation deck with a large Plexiglas window to the Earth.

"This is," Rose said, then faltered, "I'll let the Doctor describe it."

He stared out the window, to the big blue ball teeming with life, "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is. Earth, at its height."

Ianto stepped forward, cautiously, "It looks the same." He turned to face the Doctor, disbelief painted across his face. The Doctor smiled and stepped forward, pointing at the surface.

"It's now covered in Megacities, a population of ninety-six billion." he explained.

"Are those more moons?" Rose asked, delight in her voice and a grin on her face. He'd been getting to that.

"Yep. Five moons." He explained. He looked away from the glass, he'd seen the Earth before, millions of times it felt. His companions were much more interesting. Rose with her blond hair in ponytail, happy to be here, to see everything; Ianto still in his plain suit and trying to hide his awe.

"It's the Hub of a galactic domain, spanning across a million planets, a million species with mankind right in the middle." He finished.

"Oh, is that all?" Ianto asked, a bit of nervous sarcasm. He was going to be fine, the Doctor was sure of it.

He turned around, calling over his shoulder, "Let's say hello to the locals."

*~R~*

The Doctor was guiding them both through, and talking mostly to Ianto about how much he was going to love it. He was talking about good food and fine manners and art when Rose took a good look at where there were. There were bits of litter on the ground, the smell of greasy food in the air, and she knew greasy food. Someone shouted for them to get out of the way as the whole place sprung to life.

Oh, yeah, classy.

There was crowd of people and the smell of fried, fatty, food and something she didn't recognize but was incredibly foul permeated the air. She peeked in at the window of the nearest vendor, and there were at least a dozen others, and recoiled a little. She eyed the Doctor questioningly.

"Fine cuisine?"

He frowned and consulted his timepiece, "My watch must be wrong… no… it's fine. That's weird."

"That's what comes from showing off," she teased, "your history's not as good as you thought it was."

"My history's perfect," he said, clearly offended as well as confused.

She took another look around, "well, obviously not."

"Do most aliens look human?" Ianto asked, rather suddenly. She had no idea, the Doctor did, but most of the other aliens she'd encountered didn't.

The Doctor answered, "No. Why?"

"Because everyone here looks human." He said simply, his hands tucked into his pockets. Rose took another look around and realized he was right. There were mobs of people but not a single alien, except the Doctor of course. And the aforementioned alien looked more confused. Then he looked at Rose, in an expression that said 'work with me.'

He grabbed Ianto's shoulders and clapped them, causing the man to wince, the Doctor didn't seem to notice, "You must be starving, let's get you something to eat."

Ianto made a face, and Rose was inclined to agree, nothing here seemed all that appealing.

"No thank you, my stomach still hasn't settled." Ianto offered politely.

The Doctor shook his head, "No, you just need some grub." He led Ianto over to the stand, and the young man's discomfort was almost cute. He seemed so out of his element, and she wondered if she had been like that her first trip.

"How much for a Cromp Burger?" He asked of the old man in the stand.

The man looked annoyed as he answered with his twitchy mustache, "Two credits twenty, sweetheart, now join the queue."

Rose watched as a lightbulb seemed to go off in the Doctor's head and he started bounding off without them mumbling about how they needed money as if he had forgotten that part. She followed after him, and Ianto was only a few paces behind her.

"We need a cash port," the Doctor continued, weaving through the crowd until he reached an odd structure that looked almost like a rubbish bin and a mailbox had been fused together. He waved his Sonic Screwdriver over it and pulled out a strip of silver, which he handed to Ianto after telling him not to spend it all in one place.

She and Ianto stared at it as the Doctor started walking away.

"Wait, I don't know how to use this!" Ianto called after him.

Something must have been bothering the Doctor because she could have sworn there was a waspishness to the way he said, "So find out! Time travel is like visiting Paris, you can't just read the guide book. You've got to throw yourself in, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?"

She couldn't help but giggle until she noticed how still Ianto had fallen. He looked completely blank, not like he was insulted, or angry, just sort of shut down. She looked at the Doctor and he frowned.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said, seeming to realize it might have sounded harsh, "I just meant you've got to stop asking questions and do it. So what if you get it wrong?"

Ianto was at least blinking, but he still looked blank. It hadn't been that mean, had it? Rose had to question his sudden sensitivity, he dealt with van Statten for all that time. He seemed to recover and he dipped his head in something akin to embarrassment. Maybe it was just the shock. Seeing so many new things and then being told he was on his own had to be a little scary.

When she had been left on her own to watch the Earth burn, she hadn't been too pleased either.

"Right, so, come on then, let's get this Cromp or Clomp whatever," She said brightly. She wanted to follow after the Doctor, but Ianto probably needed her more. Even if she hardly had any idea what she was doing. A friendly face could go a long way. She turned for one last look at the Doctor but he was already gone.

They stood in line, surrounded by people. She wondered if this was what foreigners felt like in a Food Court at the shopping centre. People dressed in the latest 'fashion' and people shoving and vying for a better spot. Someone bumped into them without so much as an apology.

"Good to know some things really don't change," Ianto deadpanned and she laughed. He was back on board.

{-I-}

He, Ianto Jones, was currently in the year 200,000 on a space station orbiting an Earth with five moons. He was also sitting at a table eating what looked like a green burger and blue chips but tasted like dried leather. Rose was watching him, and pretending she wasn't. And Ianto was no idiot, he knew why.

It mortified the hell out of him.

He'd panicked. He thought the Doctor was leaving him, and so soon after he'd reassured him he was 'right here.' Then, he'd disappointed the man by asking questions. He had messed up, displeased the Doctor, and then he'd walled himself off. Ianto took another bite of the rawhide burger and ignored the emotions churning inside him. He had regressed, or that's what a therapist would say. And he'd seen one or two; van Statten actually had excellent health care benefits. He had regressed in the face of a new environment.

"Here, try one of these," Rose told him, handing him a styrofoam cup with a lid and straw while she took a sip of the one in her other hand, "It's called Zafic, or something, it's nice, like a Slush Puppie or something."

"What flavor?" He asked automatically.

Rose took another sip, a look of contemplation on her face before she decided, "A sort of… beef?"

Ianto set down his burger and stared at her. She started laughing, and Ianto was surprised at how infectious it was. He looked down at the food in front of him. Colorful and disgusting.

"I never thought I'd miss Chinese takeaway this badly," he announced, which sent Rose laughing again.

"You get used to it," she told him in between fits, "this helps." She said and pulled out her mobile. "Just talking to someone from home helps. The Doctor gave it a sort of top off."

She was pressing buttons and he could hear the beeping in spite of the wall of noise from the hustle and bustle surrounding them.

"Who have you got a home? Parents? Brothers and sisters?" Rose asked absently. Ianto almost choked, which had him reaching for the closest thing to water. Home. He didn't want to think about that.

He tried to dissuade her with, "That's almost one hundred ninety-eight thousand years ago."

She wasn't having it and thrust the tiny clear-ish white device in his palm, "Just dial." Again, as if he were the unreasonable one in this situation. He stared at the mobile and back at Rose. And it wasn't even that he doubted it, not after everything he'd seen, he just… he didn't know who to call. It wasn't like he had any mates while working for van Statten. He hadn't spoken to his sister, Rhiannon, since… a very long time.

"I don't have anyone to dial," He heard himself say as he handed her phone back. She looked at him as if he said he had terminal cancer.

"I just thought… Ianto, I'm so sorry," she said.

He smiled tightly, "It's fine."

A claxon sounded and they both jumped as everyone started to leave as quickly as they had appeared. They must have had a unified lunch break, no wonder everyone had been in such a hurry.

"Oi, you two, c'mon," The Doctor called, standing with a pale redhead and a woman in a business pantsuit. Rose brightened as she grabbed her pseudo-Slush Puppie and joined them. Ianto grabbed his, and did the same.

.[D].

The two women were journalists, the Doctor explained as they followed the pair through the winding corridors until they ended up in white room with a single chair in the middle. More people joined them and the dark-skinned woman gestured for them to stay behind a railing as she joined the rest of the journalists.

There were panels propped up from the floor, panels with two hand-shaped indentations, where the employees were sitting and the Doctor itched to put his Sonic Screwdriver to them so he could find out exactly what they were. A relay of some kind, if he had to guess.

"Now, everybody behave, we have a management inspection," the woman in the pantsuit began, she turned to look at him, "how do you want it, by the book?"

He grinned, "I write from scratch, thanks."

Rose giggled at his side, and a faint smile tugged at Ianto's lips. The woman didn't seem to get it, but that was fine, it hadn't been meant for her.

"Okay, so, ladies, gentlemen, multisexed, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni," she turned to him again, "that's Cathica with a 'c' in case you want to write to floor five-hundred praising me and please do." Her attention fell back to the other journalists, "Now please feel free to ask any questions, the process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy."

Cathica was smiling at him again. Or she was until the other woman piped in with, "Actually, that's the law."

Annoyance flashed across her features as she responded, "Yes, thank you Suki." Cathica made her approach to the chair, telling everyone not to show off. The Doctor heard Ianto make a quiet scoffing noise, and he had to agree.

"And, engage safety," Cathica ordered, everyone put their hands out as the entire room seemed to hum and thrum, before bursting with light. The three travelers glanced around, trying to adjust their eyes to the brightness. The Doctor settled first, followed by Rose who resumed sipping her Zafic. Ianto was last. Their focus returned to what Cathica and the other employees of Satellite Five were doing.

The journalist clicked her fingers and a hole in her head opened, revealing soft brain matter. Rose gasped and dropped her drink, before scrambling to pick it up again. Ianto paused mid-sip of his, and then kept drinking. The Doctor grinned at the turn of events, Ianto coping with something better than Rose.

"Three… two… spike," Cathica said and a ribbon of intelligence condensed into a shimmering blue light fed into her brain. Rose looked further put off, but Ianto remained impassive.

The Doctor stated, "Compressed information, streaming into her mind. Reports from every city, every country, every planet and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software, her brain is the computer."

"If it all goes through her, she'd be a genius," Rose mused.

"She'd be dead," Ianto corrected mildly, and then resumed drinking, looking to the Doctor to continue his explanation.

"That's right," he praised, "it's too much, her head would blow up. She forgets before she wakes up. The brain is the processor and as soon as it closes she loses all of it." He told them, pacing around the room and watching everyone. Rose joined him.

She gestured to the journalists sitting on the ground, "What about these people then?"

"They've all got chips in their heads, connecting them to her and they," he paused, unsure of the right word he could use that Rose would understand, "transmit. Six hundred channels. Every single fact of the Human Empire beams out of this place." He'd come full circle and leaned back on the railings next to Ianto, "Now that's what I call power."

"So, who monitors this place?" Ianto asked him, "Who ensures there isn't a bias?"

The Doctor beamed, "Floor five hundred."

"I can see her brain," Rose said joining them, peering passed the light. She looked at Ianto, "How can you keep drinking that with her brain, just… right there in front of you? Isn't it disgusting?"

Ianto shrugged his shoulders some, "The chicken flavor isn't so bad."

The Doctor laughed at that, but he sobered quickly, "You're right Rose, this technology's wrong."

"Trouble?" Rose asked.

He turned to her with a smile, "Oh yeah."

{-I-}

There was a feeling that neither the Doctor nor Rose were entirely bothered by the possibility something was wrong. In fact, Ianto would dare to say they quite enjoyed that possibility, but he didn't have time to ruminate on it as the lights suddenly shut down and everyone ripped their hands away from their panels.

The information cut off, and Cathica was blinking her eyes as she reoriented herself.

"Come off it, Suki, I wasn't halfway, what was that for?" She demanded.

Ianto noticed the way Suki was cradling her hand as she answered that it must have been some sort of glitch. One of the walls started glowing blue and the word promotion flickered across it as computerized voice announced it. He could hear Cathica praying it was her, that it was finally her.

It wasn't.

"Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell," the voice bleeted.

The redhead. She stood up in awe, while Cathica simmered.

"Please proceed to floor five hundred." The disseminated voice continued.

Suki still seemed shocked, but then, he could only see the back of her head and her unsure movements, "Floor five hundred. I don't believe it."

"How the hell did you manage that, I'm above you!" Cathica demanded. Suki didn't seem to mind the anger directed at her in the slightest.

"I don't know, I just applied for it on the off chance," her voice was quiet, but then she squeaked out, "and they said yes!" She fixed them all with a brilliant smile.

Cathica crossed her arms, "This is so not fair, I've been applying to floor five hundred for three years."

Ianto turned to the Doctor, "So this floor five hundred…?"

"It's where the walls are made of gold," he answered distantly. Staring at the blinking name of Suki Macrae Cantrell.

Ianto finished off his Zafic, and followed along as everyone went to see Suki off. They went back the same way they came in, a short series of easily navigated corridors, and wound up back at the stands of food. All of them back up and running for what may have been a later lunch break. The other journalists congratulated Suki, said their goodbyes, leaving only the four of them and Cathica.

Suki was still beaming, "Cathica," she sing-songed, "I'm gonna miss you."

Cathica still looked perturbed, but a lot of the indignation had left and her posture wasn't quite as stiff. Waves of discontent still radiated from her being though. Suki either didn't notice or was polite enough not to call on it, as she turned to the Doctor.

"Floor five hundred, thank you," she said, a happy lilt to her voice.

The Doctor looked baffled, "I didn't do anything."

"Well you're my lucky charm!" She insisted.

The Doctor just grinned, "All right, I'll accept a hug from anyone," and moved in to claim it. Suki giggled with delight.

"How are you holding up?" Rose's voice startled Ianto, who had been absorbed in watching. It was what he was a bit more accustomed to, simply observing other's interactions.

He thought for a moment and opted to answer sincerely with, "It's a lot to take in."

She gave him a lopsided smile, one that said she understood. She looked like she had an idea as she suddenly starting reaching for something in her pocket. It was just a key on a long chain and she offered it to him.

"Take this, it's the key to the Tardis, if you want to get away from it all," Rose explained.

"Because it's not weird in there," Ianto deadpanned and she laughed and pocketed the key.

"I suppose you've got a point." She conceded, still chuckling a little. Ianto felt a smile forming, Rose's happiness was something like an infection spreading rapidly. It felt good though.

Their conversation was ended as Suki loudly squealed that she couldn't keep the people on floor five hundred waiting, and she was racing off to the lift. "Say goodbye to Steve for me! Bye!" She called out just before the doors shut.

Rose and the Doctor gave her tiny waves, but Ianto kept his hands deep in his pockets.

"Good riddance," Cathica seethed, crossing her arms once more.

The Doctor seemed perplexed as he observed, "You talk as though you'll never see her again, she's only going upstairs."

Cathica stared as though he were daft, "We won't. Once you go to floor five hundred you never come back."

And now they had the makings of a horror film. A clichéd horror film at that. It was fitting he supposed, he had after all just seen a woman's brain through a decent sized hole in her head. Even he would admit it was a little unsettling.

.[D].

The Doctor had lobbied question after question, and Cathica answered, but she always answered as if she were annoyed. He just wanted to make her think. Humans had this amazing ingenuity, he'd seen it first hand, but they were all so stupid sometimes. What was the phrase, a person is smart but people are dumb? Something like that.

They were back in the same room, with its stark white walls and the wrong technology. Rose and Ianto were just a bit behind them.

"Look they only give us twenty minutes for maintenance, can't you give it a rest?" Cathica asked, she was starting to sound incredibly exasperated .

"You've never been to another floor, not even the next floor down?" He asked as he sat himself in the chair. How could the woman not question this? Why was there such casual acceptance? He had to know.

Cathica looked thoughtful, "I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived, that's medical, that's where I got my head done," she gestured to it with her pen, "and then I came straight here," she crouched toward Suki's panel to examine it, "we work, eat and sleep on the same floor and that's it."

"Convenient," Ianto intoned so dryly the Doctor wasn't sure if he seriously thought it so or was merely being sarcastic.

Abruptly, Cathica stood up, staring the Doctor in the eye. "You're not management, are you?"

"At last, she's clever!" He responded condescendingly. Rose stifled a laugh.

"Yes, well, whatever it is, don't involve me," Cathica responded, highly offended, "I don't know anything."

"Don't you even ask?" The Doctor questioned genuinely, watching her as she moved about the room.

"Why would I?" She retorted, annoyance dripping from her voice as she jotted something down.

Now he was growing exasperated, "Because you're a journalist!" That had her frozen, a moment of crystallization, and the Doctor was determined to egg it on, "Why is all the crew human?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" She asked, but her tone was softer, less abrasive and he finally felt like he was getting through to her. And sometimes, all it took was one.

"There's no aliens on board, why?" He continued.

She was clearly searching for an answer, "I don't know, no real reason, they're not banned or anything."

"Then where are they?" He probed, she was getting there. Getting to the heart of the matter.

"I suppose immigration's tightened up, it's had to, what with all the threats." Now that sounded defensive.

He continued to probe, "What threats?"

"I don't know, all of them, usual stuff. And the price of the space walk doubled, so that kept visitors away. Oh, and the government on Travix Five collapsed, so that's lot stopped coming, you see?" She was very defensive now, and pacing, causing Ianto to duck out of her way, "Just lots of little reasons, that's all."

"Adding up to one great big old fact and you didn't even notice," he explained with practiced ease. Patience would pay off here, he had to make her see. Make her understand and then maybe they sort this mess out, find out what went wrong.

"Doctor, if there was any sort of conspiracy I think Satellite Five would have seen it," she retorted, a mite smug, "we see everything.'

Humans.

"I can see better," he countered, "this society's the wrong shape. Even the technology."

That had her hackles raised, "It's cutting edge!"

"It's backwards, there's a great big door in your head! You should've chucked this out years ago."

"So what do you think's going on?" Rose asked, perched near his head.

"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude." He gestured to Cathica, "It's the way people think. The Great and Bountiful Human Empire is stunted. Something's holding it back…" he trailed off in thought. Recounting enemies and species that might have a vested interest. He was coming up blank.

"And how would you know?" Cathica demand, jaw jutted some and her arms crossed.

He locked eyes with her, "Trust me. Humanity's been set back by about ninety years." An idea sprung to life, "When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"

Cathica looked stunned, and haltingly she responded, "Ninety-one years ago."

"That certainly solves things." Ianto stated insipidly.

*~R~*

The buzzing of the Sonic Screwdriver could be heard over the soft hissing of pipes and the far off din of people passing by. The foot traffic was light, and Rose didn't know if that was because everyone was working again, or if it was only because of where they were. Not that she knew much about that either. It was a little section tucked away with some massive silver coverings lining the wall.

Cathica was clearly disquieted by their location, and she voiced it in a loud hiss of, "You can't touch the mainframe! We'll get told off!"

The Doctor didn't so much as look over his shoulder, "Rose, tell her to button it."

Rose wasn't sure why she had to do it, Ianto would have been a more intimidating choice even if he did look young. But he was standing a stone's throw away, hands in pockets, having assumed the mantle of 'lookout.'

"You all just vandalize the place and someone's going to notice," Cathica pressed. Rose wondered what someone finding them entailed. Were there police here? A jail? Satellite Five was supposed to be like a network station, but then again, it had living quarters too. It must have had police then.

The Doctor continued to blithely ignore her as he pulled open the mainframe. It looked like nothing but a bunch of wires and a sort of green blinking box with lights. It looked a bit like those microchips, except huge and lit up.

Sparks showered and she flinched, inadvertently backing into Ianto who she had failed to notice just behind her. She was starting to realize how eerily quiet he could be. She started to apologize, but Cathica started up again.

"This has nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work." She snapped and her heels clacked as she walked away.

"Go on then, see ya!" The Doctor said, still focused on the mainframe. Rose reached for a big section of wires, pulling them out so the Doctor could get a better look at whatever was behind the coils.

Cathica stopped and threw her hands up.

"If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down, it's boiling!" Rose offered, then turned a bit more serious as she faced the other woman, "What's wrong with this place, can't they do something about it?"

"I don't know, we keep asking, something to do with the turbines." Cathica answered, frazzled.

The Doctor mocked her, "Something to do with the turbines."

The woman grew angry, "Well I don't know!"

"Exactly!" The Doctor said, whipping around, "I give up on you Cathica, now look at Rose and Ianto," Rose popped up at her name murmuring an 'ah-thank you,' and the Doctor continued, "they're asking the right questions. Why aren't there any aliens on board? Why is it so hot?"

Ianto had ducked his head at being mentioned.

"One minute you're worried about the Empire, the next minute it's the central heating!" Cathica protested.

"Poor maintenance is unforgivable," Ianto commented and the Doctor looked at him in awe. Ianto did that head-ducking thing again and ran a hand through his hair. Rose couldn't get over how young he looked when he did that.

"Right, plumbing's very important," the Doctor said, tugging on the collection of white wires and, seemingly on accident, tearing them out. Rose resisted the urge to shake her head at him, but Cathica didn't bother hiding her supreme horror and distress.

{-I-}

Ianto had no idea how the man managed to jerry-rig access to a screen, and ignored the impulse to straighten the pile of chords on the floor. When he reflected on it he had to wonder why he was surprised. The man, or maybe alien (Ianto couldn't be sure of anything anymore), owned a time machine; of course he was good with technology. That had probably been as complicated as changing batteries to him.

The Doctor turned the screen to face them, and it held a display of Satellite Five with a detailed view of the inner workings. Air ducts, plumbing, heating and cooling, and a half a dozen other systems were highlighted.

"Here we go, Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing, look at the layout," the Doctor instructed stepping back.

"This is ridiculous, you've got access to the computer's core, you could look at the archives, the news, the stock exchange… and you're looking at pipes," and Ianto could taste the disbelief in Cathica's voice.

"But there's something wrong," the Doctor explained.

Ianto studied it, following the maze of tubes several times and coming to the same conclusion. Not that he had any idea what that conclusion could mean.

"I suppose…" Cathica conceded, her voice distant.

"What? What is it?" Rose asked, not seeing the problem **.**

Ianto pointed to the cooling ducts, or at least what he presumed to be the cooling ducts- things couldn't be that different, "These are all working, the ventilation system seems to be functioning perfectly given the readings, here," he moved his finger to the readout which noted that everything was performing at ninety-eight to a hundred percent, "but it seems to be working to channel the heat  _down_."

Quite a feat given that heat naturally rose. The Doctor was beaming at Ianto, and he pretended to be fascinated by the display, almost missing, "Yep. All the way from the top."

"Floor five hundred?" Rose guessed.

"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat." The Doctor asserted, but that didn't explain anything in Ianto's opinion. They still had no real answers.

Rose looked to all of them, "I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party so I'm heading upstairs, fancy a trip?"

"You can't, you need a key," Cathica protested. Ianto looked to the Doctor, almost certain the man had a plan.

He did, "Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here," he stepped between Rose and Cathica to get at the screen which began scrolling through numbers, "Override two-one-five point nine."

"How come it's giving you the code?" Cathica demanded.

The Doctor looked skywards, or maybe floor five hundred-wards given that they were on a space station. Every time Ianto stopped to think about it, it shocked him. Ianto Jones, former archivist and coffee boy was out solving a mystery in the year 200,000. He was out among the stars with two people he hardly knew. Who was he anymore?

He had to stop thinking about it. Best to throw himself in and not dwell on it. Might make him sick.

"Someone up there likes me," the Doctor said, effectively bringing Ianto back to the moment.

"Or he really doesn't," Ianto opined. All the hallmarks of a trap, this, and Ianto wasn't one to go in obliviously.

*~R~*

Almost four hundred floors took a very long time, even if it was a highly advanced lift. Ianto seemed to be growing agitated, his hands on his hips and staring up at the ceiling. Rose watched him with concern and she nudged the Doctor. He looked at her, and then at Ianto.

"You all right?" the Time Lord asked.

Ianto responded a little too quickly with, "Fine, fine." The Doctor just stared at him, and Ianto finally started looking at them. He jammed his hands in his pockets, "I could use a bloody coffee."

Rose felt herself smile at that and the Doctor did too. The air seemed to feel a lot less tense, something she hadn't really registered. It was always like this with the Doctor, going into the unknown, ready to face danger. Ianto just needed some time, a few more adventures under his belt and Rose was sure these moments of doubt would cease.

It had been like that her first time too, it came in waves. She'd been stunned, and then she'd settled only to be stunned again. It was like some things sunk in and others took a while to process.

She really hoped Ianto pulled through. He was cute and funny, she liked him. The Doctor seemed to as well.

"Tea's better," the Doctor claimed authoritatively. The lift doors finally opened, that odd Y-shaped way, and revealed a room covered in ice. Her breath now came out in visible plumes. The Doctor stepped out first, leaving prints in the snow-y powder on the floor. Could it be considered snow on a space station?

"Walls aren't made of gold," he observed, "you two should go back downstairs."

"Tough," Rose bit out, exiting the lift and ignoring the dread in the Time Lord's voice.

Ianto joined them, and she envied him his suit jacket. It was better than nothing.

"Looks as if someone left the window open," he deadpanned. That was something she would definitely miss, the way he defused the situation with a dry, witty comment. Even the Doctor bore a lopsided grin, unable to hide his amusement.

Rose foraged on ahead, only just realizing the big hunks of metal were the same as the ones on level one hundred and thirty nine. They were vendors, all iced over. Incredible how barren it looked without anyone there. She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to stave off the cold. The scene was chilling in more ways than one.

It looked as though this floor had been in use once upon a time. It had been designed to support life just like the other levels, so why wasn't it doing that anymore? Had something taken over? Had something killed everyone?

Her feet felt wet, she wasn't wearing the right kind of shoes for snow and while it was a stupid thing to notice it was at least a safer train of thought than dead people and whether they were in real trouble. It was a piece of normal.

A thought hit her suddenly and she spun to face Ianto, who was investigating the thick black wire cable on the floor, clashing with the white all around it, "I don't suppose you're any good at tea?"

He looked at her blankly before comprehension set in, "Decent."

Rose faced the Doctor, "His coffee is brilliant. You've got to try some. Could do with something warm after this."

"That so? I'm sure there's something aboard the Tardis…" the Doctor trailed off, his attention elsewhere. Rose focused on it too, looked like a little path with fresh prints that weren't theirs.

"Where do you suppose that goes?" He asked, a challenge in his voice. Ianto whipped his head up and joined them.

"No idea," Rose responded with a grin. Excitement burgeoning at the possibilities.

The Doctor looked between her and Ianto, "Shall we go?"

Rose nodded and the Doctor grinned as he set off. She followed immediately and heard Ianto mumble something about being outvoted, before he joined them too. For some reason she was almost reminded of the Wizard of Oz, not that she was going to lock arms and start skipping or anything. The Doctor might join her, but she couldn't see Ianto skipping. Ever.

Somehow she could feel they were getting close and her heart had sped up in accordance. There was a little room ahead, which must've been it. It just dawned on her that the footsteps they were tracking could have very easily been Suki's. Rose swallowed nervously as they stood just outside it now.

Naturally, the Doctor continued to lead the way, his steps no longer muffled by soft snow. It was back to the metal, and Rose was a little relieved, her shoes and the hem of her pants were drenched with melted ice. There wasn't much to the room except a small set of stairs, and on the landing above she could make out the legs of someone and the lower halves of some people in chairs.

They climbed the stairs, metal clanging loudly to signal their approach.

"Started without ya," a voice joked. It turned out to be a very pale, almost wax-like gentlemen with white hair that blended with the skin. There was something vaguely wrong about his eyes but she couldn't be sure of what, he continued, "This is fascinating, Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three… You don't exist."

The man chuckled, a wheezy sort of sound that made her cringe a bit. Rose turned her attention to the wall of screens, images of the citizens going about life, words and numbers scrolling by too fast for her to read.

"There's not a trace, no birth, no job, not even the slightest kiss." The man clasped his hands together, "How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"

Rose could hardly pay him any attention as she tried to analyze what she was seeing. The people seated in the chairs seemed too still and they were covered in a layer of ice, as if they never moved from their stations. None of them, she realized as she surveyed them all. Her mouth fell open as she noticed the woman at the end.

"Suki! Suki!" She called out as she rushed over and crouched beside her, "Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?" She turned to face that man again, and she demand, "What have you done to her?"

"I think she's dead," the Doctor surprised her with how calm he sounded. His flat tone sent shivers through her in a way this cold never could. It wasn't possible though, how could…?

"She's working…" Rose murmured softly. The strange clicks and whirrs were quickly growing unsettling.

"They've all got chips in their heads," the Doctor said bitterly, "it keeps them working."

"Like marionettes," Ianto half-whispered. The Doctor nodded stiffly.

The man made an over exaggerated noise of awe, "You're full of information!" The playfulness left his voice, "Now, it's only fair we got some information back. Apparently you're no one," he chuckled awkwardly, "it's so rare not to know something. Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter, 'cause we're off. Nice to meet you." The Doctor replied and moved to walk away. How could they just leave like this? The man was using Suki's dead body! "Come on." He insisted when neither Rose or Ianto moved.

There was a scuffle of shoes against the floor and a pair of guards seemed to come from nowhere to grab the Doctor, and Suki's hand wrapped around her wrist when she went to help. A bit of panic crept in; she couldn't get loose. Ianto seemed to be in a similar state a few chairs down.

"Tell me who you are," the man insisted as the Doctor was brought up to face him.

The Time Lord retorted, "Since that information is keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I?"

"Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief could convince you otherwise." The man said with a false pleasantness.

"And who's that?" Barked the Doctor.

"It may interest you to know, this isn't the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, it's not even human at all, it's merely a place where humans happen to live." The man tapped his ear and began looking a little stressed, "Yea- yes-, ah, sorry, it's a place human are  _allowed_  to live by kind permission of my client."

He smiled at them and clicked his fingers before he pointed upwards.

With trepidation, Rose lifted her gaze to the ceiling.

She covered her mouth in horror.

{-I-}

The creature above them was nothing short of appalling; a large hulking mass with black, bulging eyes and viciously jagged teeth. That was it. No discernable features, just a big reddish-purple blob with a gaping maw. A gaping maw with _large_  needle-like teeth that overlapped each other just as a shark's might, each row pushing up against the one ahead so they intermingled into an amalgamation of sharp points.

It also drooled.

The saliva never quite left its mouth, but it hovered and Ianto feared that at any second it would drop and he would die covered in slobber. He was probably going to die no matter what, but he'd like a little of his dignity to be intact when it happened.

"What is that thing?" Rose asked, sounding exactly how he felt: disgusted.

"You mean that thing is in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor asked, incredulous. Ianto was beyond that at this point, after everything he'd seen why _wouldn't_  a big slobbering blob beast be in control of all of it?

"That 'thing,' as you put it, is in charge of the whole human race. For almost a hundred years mankind has been shaped and guided, its knowledge and ambition tightly controlled by its broadcasts: news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanities' guiding light, the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe."

"Bit of a mouthful," Ianto commented under his breath.

"I call him Max," the strange man stage whispered, grinning. He clicked his fingers and more people arrived. Ianto wasn't sure if he should refer to them as people since they weren't actually alive, but then, what did you call an animated dead body? Was there an official term? He probably wasn't going to live long enough to find out.

The man passed along some orders, telling the new arrivals to fetch the restraints. Two of the tall men left as quickly as they had arrived.

"Now, tell me who you are before I have to get my hands dirty." The pale man entreated, hands clasped behind his back.

The Doctor stayed silent, so Ianto followed the cue and did the same. If their identities truly were what was keeping them alive, they really shouldn't give anything away.

The gentlemen seemed annoyed. Like he had expected the Jagrafes to have frightened them into spilling everything. Had Ianto been alone, he might have, but there was no way of knowing. He jerked his arm, trying to dislodge it from the grip around his wrist.

"Nice try," the man chided, "but because they're all dead they have no control of their muscles. That means the chip can lock them like that, keeping the grip tight. It won't let go until I, or the Mighty Jagrafes, give the say so."

"How can you do that? How can you do that to these people?" Rose demanded, crying out at the injustice, while Ianto hadn't even been fazed by the fact these were real people who had once lived real lives. When had he become so uncaring? He had known they were dead bodies and his only thought of them had been one in passing. He had wondered what to call them.

There was no sense in getting worked up about it, they were dead, it wasn't as if they cared, he rationalized. Rose was very young, and very naïve for all her travels with the Doctor.

The man just chortled at her.

"Ah, perfect," he said as the two bodies returned with what must have been the restraints. Ianto had expected hand-cuffs, or the equivalent thereof, but the contraption the pair brought looked as though it had been slapped together with PVC pipes and bits of springy plastic coiling. It was slipshod at best. "Strap our guests in."

Ianto struggled as the body holding him stood up and brought him over. It didn't even seem to react as it forced his hand into the first cuff.

"I thought I mentioned, these people don't feel anything. Their muscles are controlled by a computer, that means perfect control and maximum output. Struggle all you like, you're not going anywhere." And the man sounded so bloody cheerful about it.

Still, Ianto fought, and so did Rose and the Doctor. The man had been right, and the bodies simply went about strapping them in. It may have taken a few moments longer, but the end result was the same. They were stuck.

.[D].

"If you create a climate of fear, then it's easy to keep the boarders closed." The man explained, gesticulating with his hand, "It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, create an enemy, change a vote."

The saddest part was that it was the truth, brilliant as humans were they just didn't like to think. And he was stuck in some slapdash restraints that his Sonic Screwdriver could open in no time if he could just reach it.

"So all the people on Earth are like slaves?" Rose asked from his side. And she was right too, they were exactly like slaves.

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" The man inquired, strolling right up to them with a foolish sort of swagger.

The answer was simple, "Yes."

"Aw, I was hoping for a philosophical debate, is that all I'm going to get?" He dropped his voice to a pathetic mimicry of 'yes' in order to goad him. The Doctor wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Yes." He repeated. The man gave an airy laugh.

"You're no fun," The man half-pouted, warped grin firmly set in his features.

"Let me out of these manacles and you'll see how much fun I really am," the Doctor threatened, knowing it wouldn't do anything. He was only partially concentrating on this sham of a conversation, he was more concerned with finding a way out of this. How could he get Rose and Ianto out of this and stop the stunted development of mankind?

"Ooh, he's tough, isn't he?" The man in the dark suit directed at Rose, but his intermittent giggling showed how little he thought of the Doctor, "Come on, isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it just a little bit."

Rose responded, "You can't have something on this scale, somebody must've noticed."

"From time to time, yes," the man conceded, walking away from them, "but this computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt," he spun on his heel and held up his hand, "and crush it." He finished as he clenched a fist. A nasty smile spread across his milk white face.

"And anyone you can't convince, you 'promote.'" Ianto filled in, and sometimes the boy's cleverness surprised the Doctor. So many 'intelligent' people were embroiled in facts and figures, but Ianto had a good head on his shoulders. Part of the Doctor was glad he'd brought him along, the other part fervently hoped he didn't get the youth killed. There weren't enough people like Rose and Ianto.

"Precisely," the man affirmed, "and the rest go on living the life, strutting around downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're  _so_ individual. When of course they're  _not._  They're just like cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafes hasn't changed a thing."

The Doctor noticed some movement a ways behind the man, but couldn't quite make it out from the shadows.

"And what about you? You're not a Jagra, uh, err, belly," Rose faltered.

"Jagrafes," Ianto filled in before the Doctor could.

"Right, thanks. You're not a Jagrafes. You're just a human." Rose carried on.

The man made a disgusted face, "Well, simply being human doesn't pay very well."

"You couldn't have done this all on your own." She pressed.

The man laughed heartily at that, "No, no, no. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long term investment," his odd blue eyes flickered towards the Jagrafes, "also the Jagrafes needed a little hand to," he dropped to a whisper and even cupped his mouth, "install itself."

That movement behind the representative, it was Cathica. She'd come to investigate after all. Fantastic! The Doctor was sure if he could meet her eyes and give the right clues she'd know what to do. He tried not to think about how similar that made him to the Jagrafes.

"No wonder, a creature that size," the Doctor said, turning his attention away from the still somewhat obscured figure of Cathica and toward the beast in the ceiling. He didn't know much about that species, they weren't a populous bunch and they were on the secretive side, "What's its lifespan?"

"Three thousand years."

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five is so hot, you pump the heat out of the creature, channel it downstairs, the Jagrafes stays cool and stays alive," he expounded, mentally pleadingly with the dark-skinned woman to understand, "Satellite Five is one great big life support system."

The man did not look pleased, "You know too much, that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, and we know nothing about you. So, tell me who you are."

"Not a chance," he replied. His eyes locked onto Cathica's, and he wished he could just tell her exactly what to do. Instead she was watching them blankly.

"I thought you might be stubborn," the banking representative stated viciously, he pressed a button and then there was pain. It emanated from the restraints, sharp and piercing like thousands of needles jammed everywhere. Every inch of skin, every pore. Inside his head. Stab, stab, stabbing, until it stopped abruptly. The ache lingered though.

Rose and Ianto were left reeling too, both of them had their eyes squeezed shut and their breathing was strained. At least they were all alive.

"The thing about those manacles, is that even though they're connected… they're not." The white-haired man imparted, "If I hit this button," he paused and did so. The lights on Rose's cuffs glowed a deep blue as she cried out and her body tensed; and the Doctor could do nothing but watch.

"If I hit that button, the blonde gets it," The man said needlessly, "And if I hit this one…"

Ianto let out a loud howl as his cuffs lit up. The Doctor glared at the man. Greedy, arrogant, git. If he could just get to his Sonic Screwdriver, or if he could get Cathica to understand!

"Well, you get the idea," the bastard chuckled, he eyed the remote in his palm, "and ooh! It has different settings. The one you got was, oh, it says here a four. What do think happens at six?"

A strangled noise tore from Rose's throat, and the Doctor's stomach turned cold. He couldn't let her get hurt!

"Leave her alone, I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler and that's Ianto Jones, we're nothing, we're just wandering!" He yelled, rushing to get the words out, anything to help her, to make the pain stop. She was panting, and shaking, but it looked like she'd be all right.

"Tell me who you are." The man repeated, his hand hovering over the controls.

"I just said!" The Doctor insisted, desperation creeping in.

"Yeah, but who sent you?" The representative questioned, "Who knows about us?"

"We're just traveling!"

The man shook his head and fiddled with the handheld device, "Liar! How does the eighth setting sound?"

Ianto's screams would stay with him for a long time, as would the sight of him trying to curl into himself to escape or at least alleviate some of the pain. This was all his fault, he'd brought the boy here. He'd led him straight into trouble.

"Still no ideas?" The man pressed, and the blue lights turned red. Ianto had tears running down his cheeks, and he was trembling violently.

"Stop! Stop! I'm a Time Lord! These two are from the 21st century, look at them! No one knows about you! No one sent us! We're traveling, I swear!" He blurted. The light winked out, and the Doctor was certain if the restraints weren't holding him up Ianto would have collapsed. The boy looked pale, and clammy and he was coughing raggedly.

"Time Lord? That's a myth," The man said.

"I'm the last. I escaped in my Tardis, and now I just travel." The Doctor explained. The man ventured forwards and reached out to stroke Rose's cheek, as if she were a child or a pet.

"A Time Lord and his little human girlfriend from long ago," The man taunted, then moved on to Ianto, "and this is your butler I suppose." He took a moment to inspect them, "They really are from the 21st century. That means… you must have a Time Machine."

The Doctor's gut clenched.

"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Empire must be tiny compared to all the things you've seen. You've got infinite knowledge, and as you know, knowledge is power." The man stated.

"I won't say anymore, I'll die first!" He shouted. This wasn't supposed to happen, he shouldn't have said anything, the kind of knowledge he had could change everything, it could rewrite the entire universe and bring it crashing down around everyone's ears. He'd been so afraid for Ianto, for Rose, he hadn't considered the consequences.

"Oh, I don't think so. See, we've got these chips, they go inside your head and… well, I've got access to everything." The man outstretched his arms victoriously, "Today, we are the headlines, we can rewrite history, we can do whatever we like."

_Cathica._

Cathica was their only hope, he had to get her to move, to act, "And no one will stop you, because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions," his risked letting his gaze fall to her briefly, "Stupid little slaves, they'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if you tell them it's made of gold."

The woman met it with a determined expression, and she left. All he could do now was hope.

{-I-}

Everything still hurt, and Ianto meant everything. Like rats gnawing on his insides. Like this pain was all that he was. The others were talking, he knew that, and he tried to focus on that to make the sheer agony subside.

The sound of angry bleating computers incensed the emergent headache, and it took him a moment to piece together it was an alarm system. Something was happening with the computers.

"Someone's overriding the system, show me!" The man was shouting. An image appeared.

"That's Cathica," Rose said, and sure enough it was her seated in one of the chairs with the stream of condensed information connecting her to the interface. Ianto forced himself to pay attention, to ignore the protracted aches.

"And she's thinking!" The Doctor sounded pleased, and that was good, "She's using what she knows!"

"Terminate her access," The businessman ordered Suki.

"Everything I've told her about Satellite Five, the pipes the filters, she's reversing it!" And Ianto was so glad the Doctor was explaining it, because he was having trouble thinking, "Look at that," the, well, he was pretty sure he'd heard Time Lord, so, Time Lord was referring to the icicles clinging to the ceiling. They were melting, "It's getting hot."

The white-haired man was still trying to stop it, ordering Suki's body to 'burn out her mind.' But instead, the bodies all fell forward as the beeps from the monitors grew more and more incessant and the entire station seemed to be quaking, dumping the corpses to the floor and forcing everyone to fight for their balance.

"She's venting the heat up here, the Jagrafes needs to stay cool, we're sitting on top of a volcano!" The Doctor explained.

"And that's good?" Ianto asked, a bit sardonic.

The representative was trying to convey the situation to the Jagrafes, trying to rationalize why he couldn't stop it while the creature was making garbled noises that sounded like shrieks and growls.

Somehow, in the commotion, Rose had freed herself and was now holding the Doctor's screwdriver, fumbling with it until she found the right setting and unlocked the Doctor. Without their support, Ianto felt himself starting to topple until the Time Lord caught him and waved the device over the cuffs until he was loose.

Ianto honestly tried to stand up on his own, but the Doctor had swiftly grabbed his arm and draped it across his leather jacket clad shoulders so he was half-carrying Ianto out of the room. Rose following close behind. They were running, Ianto wasn't sure where, not until they got there. The computer interface where Cathica lay. She slowly blinked her eyes open, and together they headed for the lift.

*~R~*

"So, that's it then? Everything's going to be okay?" Rose asked the Doctor as he pulled open the Tardis door.

He nodded, "Cathica's going to explain things, and once the dust has settled the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire will be back on its feet. Back to normal."

She caught the Doctor's eye and looked at Ianto, and comprehension sunk in for him. The young man still seemed a bit shaken, but more alert and coherent than when they'd been on floor five hundred. He didn't look quite so ghastly pale.

"So, Ianto, ready for the next stop?" The Doctor asked.

"Is it always so…?"

Rose gave a lopsided smile, "Yeah, it is a bit…" It figured. She'd wanted him to stay.

It was a lot to handle, and it had been incredibly dangerous. Ianto's pained screams echoed in her head and she suddenly felt very selfish for wanting him to stay. His life had been at stake, and it probably wouldn't have been a quick death. She gave him a sad smile and readied her goodbye.

"Sounds good," Ianto responded flatly and entered the Tardis, leaving two baffled humanoids in his wake.

The Doctor looked at Rose, and wide grins broke out as they joined him inside.

 


	3. Father's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the hardest thing to face isn't aliens, or monsters. Sometimes the thing that haunts you is your own past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 5,000~  
> Beta: JolinarJackson
> 
> First actual deviation from the series! Woo! It's important to note that the events that happened in the original episode still happened. I just didn't write them out.

Act the third  
 _Father’s Day_

The Doctor was seated, his feet propped up against the console stationed in the very centre of the Tardis. Rose was leaning up against it as well and speaking softly when Ianto emerged from the room the Doctor had let him use. He'd slept deeply, and for longer than he had intended, but he was up now and hoping he hadn't intruded on anything.

The Doctor turned around and flashed him a welcoming grin, before giving his attention back to Rose.

"And that's what my mother was always saying, so I was just wondering if we could… if we could go and see my Dad, while he was still alive." She looked like she was trying not to show just how badly she wanted to see him.

"Where has this come from all of a sudden?" The Doctor asked.

"All right, if we can't, if it's against the laws of time or something, then never mind, just leave it," Rose sounded defensive, almost, but then Ianto wasn't the best at interpreting people.

"No, I can do anything," the Doctor half-boasted, "I'm just more worried about you."

"I wanna see him," Rose said.

"Your wish is my command, but be careful what you wish for," the Time Lord offered with a smile as he abruptly stood up and began flipping switches. "Morning **,**  Ianto!" He called as the engine revved.

Rose blinked at him, and blushed, "Didn't see you. Sorry. I um…"

"I'll go find that coffee maker," Ianto interposed to allow her and the Doctor some privacy. That was probably a trip he wouldn't be needed on, and he didn't mind because he understood. It was a highly intimate request to see a dead relative.

"No, no, it's all right." She said, "You can stay. I mean, unless you're afraid it'll get boring."

She was rambling and trying to put on a happy face, but it fell flat. Ianto could tell Rose hadn't had much practice in the way of schooling her emotions. The Tardis shook violently before Ianto could reply, not that he would have known what to say. There was that strange grating whoosh that Ianto had come to recognize as the ship landing, and everything went still.

"Ready?" The Doctor asked, as Ianto busied himself with straightening his suit. Rose shot Ianto an unsure look, and then nodded at the Doctor as she made her way to the doors.

.[D].

"This isn't London," Rose observed.

"Nonsense, this is London circa 1986, the past is always like a whole different country." The Doctor said, walking out into the slightly overcast weather.

"She's right. This is Cardiff." Ianto piped in, joining them outside. The Doctor darted back inside. He knew he'd set the coordinates for London, he'd been aiming for Jackie's wedding because if there was ever a time to see your parents before you were born it was their wedding. He checked the monitor as Rose and Ianto reentered, Rose looking amused as she crossed her arms. It was that look she got when she knew she was right.

And she was.

"Ah… Cardiff, Wales. 1997." He admitted unhappily.

"Yeah, a whole different country indeed," Rose teased.

It wasn't easy having to navigate the whole of time and space, it wasn't like he could just plug in a GPS, or had any landmarks to go off of, "Okay, let's try it again-"

"Wait," Ianto interjected, and the Doctor paused, confused. The boy looked nervous, but he continued, "maybe I could stay…?"

"You want to stay? What for?" He couldn't help but ask. What happened in 1997 Wales that was worth sticking around to watch? There was that devolution issue, but that was just a vote, hardly anything to see at all.

"This is just… where I grew up, just a few streets down." Ianto answered. His voice sounded odd. The timbre was flat, but a different kind of flat than was usual for the Welshman. "You and Rose can visit her father, and I'll just… stay here."

Rose bobbed her head in agreement. The Doctor wasn't quite convinced and he crossed his arms looking Ianto dead in the eyes. Well, he was doing the same thing for Rose…

"You can't change anything. You can't interfere with anything that happens." He instructed, and Ianto dipped his head to indicate he understood, "I mean it. Nothing. You can't even be seen, not by your younger self. If I come back for you and I see you've done something…"

Ianto seemed suitably threatened.

The Doctor smiled. "Right then. Off you go."

{-I-}

Ianto watched as the Tardis disappeared, suddenly unsure if he wanted to stay after all. He tucked the wallet the Doctor had given him, filled with far too much cash just in case the Time Lord returned later than he meant to, into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. It was too late for second thoughts. His eyes turned to the sky, grey clouds just beginning to roll in.

He remembered today. Eidetic memory didn't allow him to forget.

Not that today had been much different from any other. It hadn't been the best, but it hadn't been the worst. Ianto started to leave the alleyway and caught sight of the school children walking home. He froze as he watched. He remembered those faces, those were his classmates, his neighbors, and there, trailing at the end was his own eight year old body.

Rhiannon was up ahead with the older kids, chatting about whatever girls did at her age. He couldn't make out what any of the children were saying from here but he remembered the sounds of their voices. He remembered the deep-rooted loneliness and the isolation. The other children didn't like him, because he didn't know how to interact with them.

He was too quiet. He didn't play right. He wasn't fun.

Ianto had to pull himself out of those thoughts, those memories. He turned away from the children, and he turned away from himself. He wondered aimlessly until he found himself in front of a small café. It was quaint place, a bit old-fashioned with Victorian inspired décor and fine china. He ordered a coffee and a scone and seated himself.

Already shaken, and all he'd seen was himself walking home from school. He knew exactly how this day would play out. He remembered every word, every facial expression. He even remembered the smell. He inhaled the scent of coffee to chase it away.

He savored the first sip, even though the beans had been ground too finely. It was still coffee. He never should have said anything, Ianto thought; he should have stayed on the Tardis with Rose and the Doctor. No. He was fine, he could handle this. He was an adult and this was his childhood, he'd survived it once, a second time might grant him some clarity.

Finishing the coffee, but leaving the scone, he paid and left determinedly.

{-I-}

Ianto positioned himself carefully, the Doctor said he couldn't be seen and Ianto had every intention of following the Time Lord's imperatives. For all he knew, time unraveled if he laid eyes on himself as an adult. So he stood in the foliage behind the fence around his home, peering through the window at an angle he knew was a blind spot for anyone inside.

God, he looked so young.

He'd been only three foot seven, short for how tall he was now, and his hair was perpetually messy. He'd had the same slightly upturned nose and high cheeks, but he still looked so different. He watched as the little boy jumped at the sound of the door opening, racing out of the room. And he knew what he was fetching, his test.

He remembered the excitement, he had been the only one with perfect marks, and he had been eager for his father to know. His teacher had praised him, and he had built up an image of what his father would do. Even now he could see it, his father scooping him up and saying the words he longed to hear. Ianto closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

" _Look, Look!"_

At eight years old, he'd been too impatient for proper sentences. He could see himself waving the paper as he opened his eyes. Rhiannon was watching the telly, and couldn't have cared less about her baby brother's marks.

Ianto's heart felt like a lump as his father pushed him aside as though he were nothing. It wasn't a punishment, it was just a dismissal. He hadn't even fallen; his sister had always said he'd been unnaturally coordinated. Graceful like a ballet dancer she once teased. And he was eight, so he hadn't let himself be deterred. His father needed to see his test, if he just looked at how well he'd done…

The lump that had formerly been his heart lodged in his throat.

" _Boy! Get away from me."_

But he was so young, and for all his intelligence he was so stupid. He kept insisting, following after his father to the kitchen like an untrained pup. He couldn't see it from his current position, but he could see it in his mind. Floral wallpaper that had been too much trouble to get rid of, the ceiling was yellowed from smoke and the sink was rusted. The countertops peeled at the corners and the knobs to the cabinets didn't match in color or design.

" _Look,"_

He had implored softly, holding the paper up as high as he could. His skinny arms only reaching his father's chest. The man had taken it, and for a moment, for one shining moment he was sure. He was absolutely sure his father would say it. He was still clinging to the fantasy, his father pulling him close and saying it just for him and then taking him out somewhere. Just the two of them. Rhiannon was old enough to stay by herself.

But that wasn't what happened.

His father had taken it, and crumbled it up, storming out of the room. Ianto ducked, knowing this was the part his father threw that piece of paper out the window. He knew this was the part he'd felt his world shatter as he looked out that window. That test had been more than just a primary school assignment. It had been his chance. His hope that his father would see he was good too. He could do good things.

Ianto couldn't pick himself up, so he sat there, his back resting against the shoddy wooden fence. A shaky breath escaped.

This hadn't even been the worst day. This had been a normal day.

.[D].

"I think… I need to be alone right now," Rose sniffed. The Doctor nodded, letting her go and watching her slowly walk upstairs to her room aboard the Tardis. He wasn't angry with her anymore, he really had forgiven her, but he couldn't shake the disappointment. He had told her she couldn't change anything. He had…

No. Rose was hurting enough without him adding to it. She hadn't done it out of greed, she hadn't done it for money or power. She was a little girl who wanted her father back, and what little girl didn't?

The bond between parents and their offspring was a deep one. And like all loves it made those affected stupid. Which is probably why he wasn't going to drop her back off in London. He shook his head at himself. He needed to distance himself, or they'd both get hurt.

The Doctor stroked the column he was next to, reminding himself the old girl was still here. The Tardis would always be with him, he felt her hum in approval and it brought a smile to his face.

He wished things had turned out different, that Pete could have been saved. That everyone could be saved, but that wasn't the case. He could never save everyone no matter what he tried. He moved to the centre console, running his fingers over the controls. The levers, the switches, the buttons, and he let out a tired sigh.

Right now he felt old. He felt the weight of all the people he'd lost, of the faces he'd had to say goodbye to. If only it were as simple as going back and saving them. He flopped into his chair, battered and familiar. Life wasn't easy, and it was after days like this one that made him wish he never traveled with anyone, because none of them could ever understand.

They always had to question, they always had to know why a person had to die, or why things had to happen the way they did. It was hard to be the bad guy, to be the one to let good people die. He sighed again and began pressing buttons. He'd better go clean up whatever Ianto had done.

{-I-}

The storm had finally been unleashed by nine o'clock that evening.

The rain poured down steadily, drenching everything, including Ianto Jones who had sheltered himself among the trees outside his backyard. Though he supposed he couldn't call it his backyard anymore. The bank owned it once more, last he'd looked. He knew what was going to happen, he didn't know why he'd stayed to watch.

The family of three had finished eating their pizza, a rare treat for them. He remembered Rhiannon cleaning in the kitchen, and himself trying to help until she'd barked at him for being annoying. Sibling squabbling, and it wasn't until their late teens that their bickering stopped. His father was watching the telly and nursing a beer.

In a moment he would call his eight year old son over to him and tell him to grab that paper before it was ruined by the rain. Sure enough, Ianto watched as he hurried over to his father, anxious to do anything for the man's approval. The stupid little boy he was couldn't have been happier, a smile breaking out over his features and he rushed to grab his shoes and race out the door.

Ianto hid behind the fence, his heart constricting.

He'd had no idea. He'd blindly gone out there to fetch the test, the hope rekindling as he stepped in mud and was pelted with rain. Ianto felt tears prickling in the back of his eyes. He could hear the squelching of muck and his own breathing. It was one thing to be able to recall this day with perfect clarity, it was quite another to be here as it happened.

To know and do nothing.

The little boy picked up the paper, not daring to straighten it, that would ensure it was smudged beyond recognition. The footsteps grew more distant, and Ianto knew he was heading back for the door. He remembered his father standing there, and as a boy he'd thought the man was waiting for him and he was finally going to get that hug.

Ianto risked a peek. He saw himself, standing so small at the screen door, his father's face looking down at him with a smile. The blood in Ianto's veins turned to ice and he had to shut his eyes. Not that it helped. He could still envision the way his father had waved and the sound of the door closing and the lock clicking had been deafening. He hadn't understood, so he'd remained standing at the door, cradling that stupid test to protect it.

"Ianto?" A voice asked, and his heart nearly stopped. He turned to see the Doctor at his side and he floundered for something to say. The Doctor grinned and held up what looked like a marble with a chip inside, "Sixty-third century perception filter, won it at a fair."

The Time Lord didn't elaborate as he looked over the fence, his expression turned grim, "That's you?"

"I… You weren't meant to see… I…" He felt daft again, but the Doctor didn't say anything. He just watched the little boy beating on the door and the man inside the house ignoring him. Ianto couldn't read his countenance, but he was sure his own face was morphed into a look of keen embarrassment.

"How old are you here? Nine? Eight? What are you doing out in the rain?" The Doctor asked, never looking away.

Ianto felt a tiny smile quirk at his lips, it was the one he used to distance himself, the smile he wore when he felt like doing anything but smiling, "Trying to get inside."

"Ianto," the Doctor said, tone soft and chastising all at once. Ianto heard himself sniffling, the boy was starting to realize his father wasn't going to open the door. He was just going to leave him in the rain.

"My father told me to retrieve the test he'd thrown out earlier. The one I tried to show him because I made perfect marks." Ianto told the Doctor, forcing his voice to stay level. It was bad enough the Time Lord was watching him cry as a little boy, falling apart, especially after asking to stay, was more than his dignity would allow.

"He threw your test out?" The Doctor asked, and Ianto cursed him for making him spell it out like this. He hadn't wanted anyone to see. He hadn't wanted anyone to know, "And you went to go get it?"

Ianto let out a laugh, slightly hysterical and highly inappropriate, "I thought he wanted to see it, I thought he'd changed his mind. He just thought it would be funny."

Both of them watched as Ianto's younger self pulled out the test and started angrily ripping it apart, while his sobs grew louder. His small frame heaving with them. He didn't stop until the paper was nothing more than shreds soaked through with rain.

"After that I failed my next assignment. My teacher sent it home with a note and my father," Ianto swallowed a lump that may have been his heart again, "beat me with his belt."

The Doctor looked at him, but stayed silent, waiting for him to speak when he was ready.

"So I stayed in the middle. No more good grades, no more bad grades."

"Nothing that would get you noticed…" the Doctor filled in, turning back to the little boy huddled up in the rain. He remembered he'd gotten sick after this. Enough to warrant the emergency room.

Ianto had nothing left to say, so he fell silent, just listening to the pounding rain and his childish wails as the younger version of himself began rocking back and forth as he stared up at the night sky. To all the twinkling stars and planets so far out of his reach.

It was a few moments before he found his voice and spoke up again, "I wished the stars would take me away."

The Doctor whipped to face him.

"I knew it was impossible, even if stars could, why would they take  _me_?" Ianto continued, looking up at the sky and blinking away the water that fell in his eyes. Silence reigned again as they both watched the eight year old gathering the wet scraps of paper and packing them into a wad. Ianto couldn't watch anymore, so he closed his eyes and turned away.

"Ianto Jones… look at that little boy," the Doctor ordered, pointing at him, "that little boy is going to grow up and touch those stars." Ianto's eyes snapped open and he was left gaping, not sure how to respond, but he didn't need to as the Doctor continued, "He's going to be clever, and he's going to be great. He's going to discover alien technology and eat Cromp burgers. He's going to grow up and those stars are going to wish they'd taken him away."

The Doctor took a hold of his hand the skin warm against Ianto's cold palm, "He's going to be you, and that's fantastic."

*~R~*

Rose dried her eyes as she heard the Tardis doors opening and the Doctor and Ianto stepped inside. She gave a choked laughed as she saw how drenched they were. Ianto's white shirt was practically see-through and his hair was plastered to his forehead messily.

"You should go get changed," she told him. Ianto looked down at himself, and then back up to Rose.

"I didn't bring anything else…" he stated. Rose giggled in spite of herself. She couldn't keep crying forever, and she was glad that she'd done it even if saying goodbye to her father had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

The Doctor clapped a hand on Ianto's shoulder, "The Tardis has everything. Rose, why don't you show him?" The Time Lord still wouldn't look at her as he walked away. It stung, but she knew it was because of what she'd done. The Doctor had forgiven her, but he wasn't ready to forget.

She put on a brave face gestured for Ianto to follow, "C'mon."

Rose lead Ianto through the labyrinth of hallways and corridors until she reached the large, although she was hard pressed to find a room that wasn't ridiculously sized, chamber where she usually picked out her clothes. Ianto followed her inside, his eyes roving over everything before settling on her again. There wasn't much to the room, just a big armoire, a couple of chairs and a dressing room towards the back, all with the same color scheme as the control room.

"Let's take a look," she suggested as she pulled open the armoire, she eyed the clothes inside- muscle shirts and gym shorts- and then looked at Ianto. She tried to picture him in an outfit like that and couldn't help but snicker, "Um, no." She closed the doors and reopened them. This time the Tardis offered suits like the one Ianto was currently in.

"Those will work," Ianto said and reached for one.

Rose batted him away, "Nope. Those are boring, and the white washes you out."

Ianto frowned at her in something that may have been offense, but he was too stoic to actually express it. She smiled at him; she was just being honest. He was a good looking bloke, he could stand to wear something that made him more noticeable. She closed the doors again and was met with suits that were a lot livelier.

"That's more like it!" She cried, pulling out a red button-up and a pinstripe suit, "Try it on."

{-I-}

Ianto didn't mind playing dress up, not if it brought some cheer to Rose. When they'd first arrived her eyes held the tale-tell signs of crying, red and slightly puffy. He wasn't sure what happened, but he noticed the Doctor was quick to leave. At first, Ianto thought the Time Lord was giving him some space but now he was pretty sure it had been more to avoid Rose.

The Welshman exited the changing stall located in the back of the room. So far this was the fifth suit he'd tried on and all of them fit perfectly, as though the Tardis had tailored them specifically for him. While he couldn't say he liked the pink, Rose was beaming at him and that made it okay.

"We'll have to beat them off with a stick," she teased, gesturing for him to turn around.

Ianto gave her a blank look, "With a stick?"

"Just something my mum used to say when I was growing up," Rose answered, "She was always worried about boys and stuff. Anytime I introduced her to a boyfriend she'd scare him off. Except Mickey."

Ianto quirked an eyebrow to indicate he was listening. Rose plopped herself in one of the cushioned seats and continued, "He's… well we were dating before I left with the Doctor. I kind of broke it off, but not really. I dunno… What about you? Any girlfriends?"

Ianto blanched. And Rose burst out laughing, "Don't tell me you're a shirt-lifter!"

"No, no," Ianto said firmly as Rose struggled to quiet down.

"Not that it's any problem if you are… I mean, it's just, it's always the good looking ones. So it's fine, really, if you are."

"I'm not," Ianto insisted, and it wasn't as if he had any problems with that life style, it just wasn't his, "I mean, I've had girlfriends… we just… we never lasted. I couldn't…" He shook his head as heat rushed to his cheeks and his ears colored. He really couldn't talk about how anytime there had even been anything even vaguely intimate between him and his girlfriends he'd panicked.

Rose was too clever for her own good and she stared at him in shock, "You couldn't…?"

"No. Okay. I just couldn't. Leave it." He admitted and picked up all the suits she'd picked out. He left the room quickly, unable to stand any more of Rose's probing questions.

.[D].

The Tardis was singing. She was happy about something but the Doctor didn't know what, he certainly wasn't doing anything. He started poking around and found that Rose was asleep, but Ianto wasn't in his room. He'd moved his new suits over into the closet so clearly he'd been in his room at some point since they'd returned. The Time Lord left and resumed his search.

The Doctor had been so glad to find that Ianto hadn't changed anything, even if it had been miserable. It was hard to watch, and if the Doctor wasn't so old he would have raged that men like Ianto's father lived while Rose's father had to die. But he was old. Over nine hundred years old. He was too old to question the injustices the universe allowed.

The Doctor entered the control room; Ianto wasn't there, so he kept looking.

Ianto didn't deserve the hand he'd been given, but if he was the man he was now because of it… well, perhaps there was a reason the universe was so unjust. In order for there to be light, there must be dark. Maybe the same was true for people. For there to be good there must be evil. Rose lost her father, Ianto never truly had one.

"There you are," the Doctor observed as he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen. Ianto was fussing with the coffee machine, he knew he'd had one somewhere, and the young man looked up apologetically.

"I couldn't sleep." He said by way of explanation. He was dressed in a different suit, and the Doctor noticed red looked good on him. His hair was neat again as well so he had probably showered recently.

"And coffee's going to fix that?" The Doctor teased, earning a smile. There weren't enough of those. The real ones.

The aroma started to fill the air as Ianto poured the first cup, "Bit late for that epiphany." He held it out to the Doctor, and even though the Time Lord didn't care for all the caffeine he took a sip.

His eyebrows rose. It tasted brilliant and he realized he might have to change his stance on the beverage even if it did stain teeth and stunt growth. "Not bad," he said with a grin.

Ianto poured another, and inhaled before drinking. Ianto was a good person, quick-witted and soft-spoken. The Doctor was glad he'd come along.

"Why didn't you change anything?" The Doctor couldn't help but ask.

Ianto looked up from his coffee, his blue eyes distant, "Because you can't right every wrong."

Oh, Ianto Jones was brilliant too. Wise beyond his years, even if it was because he was jaded. Rose was young and idealistic, and Ianto was an old soul, and the Doctor was pretty sure he might have been falling for the both of them. He drank another mouthful.

"There's a lot of terrible things that have to happen, a lot of things we can never change," he said, "but sometimes good things can come from that. A phoenix rising from the ashes."

The Doctor heard feet shuffling and he turned to find a bleary-eyed Rose Tyler dressed in pajamas. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she hadn't slept well, not that the Doctor could blame her after what she'd seen, what she'd lost. She had taken it hard.

"Is that Ianto's coffee?" She asked, unable to see past the Doctor since he was taking up the doorframe.

He grinned, "Yep." And then he took a sip as he moved out of her way. Ianto already had her cup waiting and she smiled as she relished in her first taste of coffee. The Doctor wasn't upset with her anymore, she'd made a mistake and now she was moving on. He watched his companions, drinking their coffee as though nothing had happened. As if confronting their pasts had solidified them instead of destroying them.

Rose Tyler, warm and radiant as ever.

Ianto Jones, cool and collected as always.

The Doctor smiled as they chatted away about nothing in particular. He only took the best, and he had them. They'd faced a Dalek, the Jagrafes and their own ghosts. They could do anything, these little humans.

"What? What is it?" Rose asked, and the Doctor realized he must've been staring for too long. He beamed at them both.

"I'll tell you what it is, it's  _fantastic_."

 


	4. The Empty Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange mauve capsule leads the trio to London, circa 1941 where there seem to be bigger problems than air raids...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 13,000~  
> Beta: JolinarJackson

Act the Fourth  
 _The Empty Child_

All three of them stood huddled around the console as the Doctor stared at the readout screen. It was barely visible but from what Ianto could make out there was a long cylindrical capsule hurtling through space.

"What's the emergency?" Rose asked, dressed in a garish Union Jack tee. Maybe it was the Welsh in him that made him find it somewhat appalling, Ianto brushed the observation aside. She had a point; they seemed to flying a bit more recklessly than usual. It was difficult to remain upright.

"It's mauve!" The Doctor announced as though that meant something. The Tardis veered particularly hard to the left and Ianto had to grab onto the panel to prevent landing on his arse.

"Mauve?" Rose repeated, once the ship had settled some. She moved over to where he and the Doctor were to get a look at the screen.

"Universally recognized color for danger," the Doctor explained. Ianto glanced down at what he'd decided to wear: a mauve shirt. Rose noticed too and smiled at him before picking up the conversation again.

"What happened to red?"

"That's just humans, by everybody else's standards red's camp. Oh the misunderstandings! All those red alerts, all that dancing!" The Doctor answered, grinning madly, he seemed to get a better lock on the object and the screen revealed it  _was_  a large capsule, and it was indeed mauve, "It's got a very basic flight computer, I've hacked in and linked the Tardis. Wherever it goes, we go."

"And that's safe?" Ianto asked skeptically.

The Doctor looked at him, "Totally."

Sparks showered from the controls, blindingly bright **,**  and Ianto instinctively raised his arm to shield himself as Rose squeaked and jumped back.

"Okay, 'reasonably,'" the Doctor said, diving in and hitting buttons to fix the problem, "I should have said 'reasonably' there." He returned to the screen, "No, no, no! Stupid time tracks, it's getting away from us!"

"What exactly is this thing?" Rose asked.

The Doctor looked up at her, and then back down as he frantically pressed the controls, "No idea!"

"Then why are we chasing it?" She questioned, and Ianto had to agree with her doubts. If they had no idea what it was, linking it to the Tardis and going after it hardly seemed prudent.

"It's mauve and dangerous!" The Doctor told her excitedly, "And it's about thirty seconds from the centre of London."

"Naturally," Ianto intoned.

The Doctor beamed at him, "See, he gets it!" Then he focused on the pursuit, zeroing in on the vessel and furrowing his brow as the thing dipped and rolled before barreling upwards.

Ianto wasn't too pleased that they had to perform the same maneuvers as they raced to the surface of the Earth, and he couldn't have been more relieved when they landed. The Doctor left for the door, which he held open for the both of them. Rose stepped out first and Ianto was right behind. He surveyed the alley they landed in.

It was wet with recent rain, and grey was the predominate color. It was quite barren, with pipes that jutted out from the nearby building. The dumpster a few feet from them smelled rancid.

"Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" The Doctor grumbled genially as he joined them, taking in the scene around him.

"Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?" Rose responded, her eyes searching for something. The mauve capsule if Ianto had to hazard a guess.

"Of all the species in the universe and it has to come out of a cow!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Ianto felt like he was missing some part of that exchange. Cows certainly weren't the only species with milk, almost every mammal on Earth was capable of lactating, perhaps the Doctor was disgruntled that Rose would only drink milk from cows.

"It must have come down somewhere quite close," the Doctor announced, moving on, "within a mile anyway."

He seemed to have just picked a direction at random, but that was always how he seemed to do things- at random. Ianto looked at Rose and they both went along with him.

"And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago," he continued now that they were at his side, "maybe a month."

Rose looked affronted, "A  _month_? We were right behind it."

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place, we were bound to be a little behind," the Doctor countered, and as they rounded a corner he shot back, "Do you want to drive?"

"Yeah," Rose grumbled sarcastically, "How much is a little?"

"A bit." The Doctor answered quickly.

Rose looked at the Time Lord and a smile was threatening to take over, "Is that exactly a bit?"

"Ish," Ianto couldn't resist chiming in and the Doctor looked pleased. Rose rolled her eyes as they carried on with no idea where they were headed. Surprisingly, it didn't bother Ianto who was used to knowing exactly where he was going and what he was supposed to be doing. He'd lived by a routine for so many years, and now… here he was. A tiny smile played at his lips.

"So what's the plan then?" Rose asked, "You going to do a scan for alien tech, or something?"

The Doctor frowned at her, "Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang, I'm going to ask."

"We could always look the old-fashioned way," Ianto contributed, "You know, with our eyes."

Rose made a disgruntled noise, clearly not finding the same humor in it that the Doctor did, he clapped Ianto around the shoulders as he pulled out some sort of wallet. Rose took it and squinted while she read out, "Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids."

Ianto scowled in confusion.

"It's physic paper, it tells you whatever I want it to tell you," the Doctor explained and handed it over to him. Ianto stopped walking for a minute and studied it. First it said, in a very official looking manner, exactly what Rose had read out, but then the words disappeared and instead the words, 'see, I told you,' emerged. Ianto gaped and rushed to catch up; evidently they had continued walking without him.

The Doctor held his ear to a large black door, "Door, music, people. What do you think?" He was asking Rose.

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech!" She insisted, "Give me some Spock! For once, would it kill ya?"

The Doctor was crouching down and using his—Ianto believed he'd called it a 'Sonic Screwdriver' at some point—to open the latch. The Time Lord looked up at her, eyeing her up and down.

"Are you sure about that t-shirt?" He asked. Ianto smirked, while Rose became a bit defensive.

"Too early to say, I'm taking it out for a spin." She bit out.

The Doctor fumbled with the lock and Ianto moved to help, tugging at it until it came loose with a loud clang. The door creaked as the Doctor opened it and ushered Ianto inside.

"Come on if you're coming," the alien called to Rose as he ducked inside too, "won't take a minute."

.[D].

The door led them to a hallway stacked with cardboard boxes, but otherwise empty. Ianto nudged him and pointed out where the light was coming from, a doorway with those funny little decorative beads hung up in place of a door. The first notes of a familiar song drifted to the Doctor's ears as a waiter parted the beads, ruining the tropical picture they created.

"Looks like the place to start," the Doctor said and Ianto gave a sharp tilt of his head in agreement.

He shuffled in as singing started and he found they must have been in a parlor, or a pub. The lights were low and not oppressive, smoke hung thickly in the air as it coiled around tables that were packed with people. The Doctor moved further in to allow Ianto inside, and he noticed that Rose had decided against joining them.

The woman on stage had a lovely voice, rich and smooth, and the Doctor leaned up against the wall to listen. She was dressed in a shimmery dress and singing 'It Had to Be You' **,**  an old classic, and when her performance finished the Doctor applauded her loudly until she left the stage.

"Wait here," he instructed Ianto. Then he was picking his way through the tables and people to climb up on the stage with the grand piano. Ianto looked surprised, but he did what he was told and stayed put.

The Doctor tapped the microphone once before addressing the crowd, "Excuse me, excuse me, if I could have everybody's attention just for a mo?"

The audience fell still and looked at him with a mild sort of distaste.

"Be very quick," he added to soothe their potential ire, "Hello! It might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"

More silence, and then the crowd began laughing heartily. It started with a few couples and gradually spread to the whole room. The Doctor looked on feeling baffled. It wasn't that stupid.

"I'm sorry, have I said something funny?" He continued, "It's just there's this thing that I need to find, it's fallen from the sky, probably a couple of days ago."

The laughter was unrelenting. The audience was in hysterics, at least until a loud whine was heard and then they were all scrambling.

"It would have landed quite near here!" He spoke up to be heard over the noise and the clatter of people hurrying to leave, he glanced up to see if he could find the source of the commotion, "With a very loud…"

The Doctor looked at Ianto, who was moving aside to let people through. Their eyes locked, and the Welshman tilted his head towards a poster in the back. The Doctor followed the gesture and realized what Ianto meant.

"…bang."

The poster was a wartime bomb-threat notice, lettered in bold print and informing the people, 'Hitler will send no warning.' He looked back to Ianto and noticed the entire parlor had cleared out.

"So much for asking then," the youth deadpanned.

The Time Lord hopped off the stage and began rushing out, "Come on, we've got to get Rose!"

If that poster mentioned Hitler then that meant they were in World War Two London during the Blitz and that high-pitched whine was to alert everyone of the incoming planes about to lay waste to the city. They needed to get somewhere safe, pronto.

He was in a dead run with Ianto right behind him when reached the street again. He frowned as he saw that his other traveling companion was no longer there. Where could she have wandered off to?

"Rose?" He called out, "Rose!"

No sign of her, not even when he rounded the corner and neared the Tardis. He sighed to himself. Of course she'd gone off somewhere in the middle of an air raid. That was just how humans were, no sense of self preservation that lot.

"I don't see her," Ianto reported needlessly, as they slowed to a stop.

The shrill ring of a telephone made them both jump, and the Doctor headed for the sound narrowing his eyes suspiciously. It grew louder as they reached the Tardis… but it couldn't be. That was just impossible.

Curiosity compelled him to open the slot to the phone, and sure enough, that old-timey phone was the source of the racket. The Doctor continued to stare incredulously.

"How can you be ringing?" he demanded of the replica, "What's that about, ringing?"

"I'm guessing it's not supposed to do that," Ianto mused insipidly.

The Doctor didn't bother to answer as he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver to begin investigating.

"Don't answer it," a female voice instructed, and both travelers spun to look at her. She was a young woman with pale skin and dark hair done in braids that made her look younger still, "it's not for you. Either of you." She informed them matter-of-factly.

"And how do you know that?" The Doctor asked, stepping closer while Ianto hung back.

She stayed where she was, somewhat obscured by shadows, "'Cause I do. And I'm tellin' ya, don't answer it."

The Doctor drew closer still and studied her carefully. She was sure of what she said, and she was clearly disturbed by something. Something was haunting her, and the Doctor had no doubts it was something to do with his suddenly functional telephone replica.

"Well, if you know so much, how can it be ringing?" He asked, always ask the right questions, he lived by that, "It's not even a real phone, it's not connected to anything."

He turned around and headed for the incessantly ringing telephone. Ianto shifted out of his way.

"And she's gone." The boy announced flatly. The Doctor whipped his head up and found an empty alleyway where the girl had once stood. He frowned and the phone kept bleating at him while the faraway sound of bombs could be heard in the distance.

Well, he couldn't just leave it, so as daft as it was to pick up a phone that couldn't possibly work, he did.

"Hello?" He asked into the speaker. Ianto started chewing on his thumbnail.

"Hello, this is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?"

A pause.

Then, a soft, tiny little voice, "Mummy?"

The Doctor froze and Ianto tensed in response.

"Mummy!"

"Who is this?" He demanded, "Who's speaking?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"Who is this?" The Doctor insisted, determined to solve this, "How did you even ring it? This isn't a real phone, it isn't wired up to anything."

The voice repeated mummy once more and then it ceased. The Doctor stared, perplexed, before he hung up the receiver.

"One mauve colored capsule, two disappearing girls, and one phone call received via not-an-actual-phone. Business as usual then?" Ianto summed up, his hands snaking into his pockets as he leaned against the Tardis.

The Doctor grinned, "Sounds about right."

*~R~*

Rose cursed herself a thousand times for being stupid enough to grab onto the bloody rope. Of course it was some barrage balloon that hadn't been fastened down tight enough, and now she was clinging to it for dear life as planes bombed the whole of London. It hadn't taken her long to realize this must have been the London Blitz. She'd seen enough pictures in history class to recognize German fighter planes.

The noise of the planes was deafening, and the tiny wails of the siren on the ground seemed so far away. How could she have been so stupid? Who the hell just grabs onto some rope without making sure it's tied down?

She tightened her grip despite the ache in her hands; it burned in startling contrast to the cold night air. Where the hell was the Doctor? He should have noticed she was missing and gone looking for her by now, he always did. Rose stared up at the oversized balloon and cursed it too. A gasp escaped as she felt herself slip, she clung tighter still but the cord was just sliding through her fingers, burning her palms.

The gasp morphed into a scream as she realized she was falling. She was falling and there was absolutely nothing she could do, except pinwheel her arms uselessly. She screamed louder, wishing somehow someone would notice, someone would save her. But help wasn't coming and she kept tumbling towards the surface, falling faster and faster until suddenly…

"Okay, okay, I've got you." A male voice announced.

She stopped.

Rose dared to open her eyes and found she wasn't falling anymore. She was hovering in midair, surrounded by a blue shimmering light and she had to wonder why the lights were always  _blue_. Funny the things you notice. It was only then she realized that she had no idea who that voice belonged to.

"Who's got me?" Her voice was choked with panic still, "Who's got me… and, you know, how?"

She fought to control her breathing and heart rate but she wasn't having much luck. She probably wouldn't until she set on foot on solid ground; the light seemed to be holding her in place, but for how long?

"I'm just programming your descent pattern, stay as still as you can and keep your hands **,**  arms and feet inside the light field," The tinny male voice instructed.

Well, that raised more questions than answers, "Descent pattern?"

"Oh, and can you switch off your cell phone?" The voice continued, Rose gasped in bewilderment and the voice piped in, "No, seriously, it interferes with my instrument."

It was difficult to argue with someone who was literally in control of whether she lived or died, so she reached into her pocket and fished out her mobile to switch it off. She still found herself snarking, "You know, nobody ever believes that."

"Thank you, that's much better," the voice said kindly.

"Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the middle of the sky in the middle of a German air raid with a Union Jack across my chest but, hey, my mobile phone's off!" She was getting hysterical and she knew it, but she couldn't stop it either. The words just tumbled out as she put her mobile back in her pocket. She had just fallen, god knew how far, and now she was just hovering in the air as bombs fell all around her. She had a right to panic.

"Be with you in a moment," the voice said and it had the nerve to sound amused. Amused! "Ready? Hold tight." It said.

Rose bit out, "To  _what_?" She was in a shimmering light field! There was nothing!

"Fair point," the voice conceded. Then she was suddenly falling again, falling as though she were in one of those tube slides and she was certain she'd never be able to ride one of those again. She was gaining speed, and all there was waiting for her was a blinding white light, and she was screaming again because she didn't know what else to do. Rose couldn't look and so she shut her eyes.

Then the falling sensation stopped.

"I got you," the voice soothed, no longer tinny, but real and solid, "you're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little."

It turned out the voice belonged to a human, or at least human-looking, male who was holding her up. It belonged to what may have been one of the most gorgeous blokes she'd ever seen. Strong lantern jaw, perfect teeth, dreamy blue eyes and well-combed brown hair.

"Hello," she greeted dumbly.

"Hello," he returned smoothly. His voice was like chocolate.

"Hello," Rose said again and then realized she'd gone stupid, "Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but, y'know, thorough." She was smiling so much her cheeks hurt. He was  _fit_.

"Are you all right?" No, his voice wasn't like chocolate. It was like, oh god, what was better than chocolate? Whatever that was, that was what his voice was like. She really had gone daft, but he was smiling at her, and it was  _gorgeous_.

She felt herself being gently lowered, and then grasped that, oh yeah, her turn to talk, "Fine." He was looking at her with concern in his vividly blue eyes, "You look like you're expecting me to faint, or something."

"You look a little dizzy," he said in his better-than-chocolate voice.

"What about you? You're not even in focus!" Rose retorted cheerfully.

Then it was dark.

{-I-}

It hadn't taken the Doctor long to spot the girl they'd met earlier sneaking into one of the home **s**. Ianto met his eyes and the Time Lord smiled at him before launching himself over the wooden fence. Ianto vaulted over it as well, and they snuck around towards the back down. The Doctor put a finger to his mouth and Ianto nodded in comprehension.

The Doctor pulled open the door, silently, and they crept inside. Ianto supposed it was a mostly typical 1940s home, floral wallpaper that reminded him a bit too much of home, finely carved wooden furniture that didn't. An old-fashioned radio rested on top of a polished little table. The floor was wood, real wood, but didn't creak under their weight.

Utensils clattering would have masked it anyway. They cautiously peered through the doorway to the dining room, and Ianto was surprised at the number of children seated around the table.

"It's got to be black market," one of the older boys was saying, "He didn't get all this on coupons."

"Ernie, how many times," the dark-haired girl reprimanded, "We are guests in this house, we will not make comments of that kind. Wash it out."

"Oh, now?" Ernie groaned to the giggles and titters of the smaller children.

"I've never seen you at one of these before," the girl observed, addressing a different child.

The small dark-hair child answered with, "He told me about it," while gesturing to the boy next to him.

"Sleeping rough?"

"Yes, miss," the little boy nodded.

"All right then," the girl said, accepting him into the fold. She had finished carving and now lifted the plate to pass it around as the children cheered, ready to tuck in, "Now remember, one slice each. And I want to see everyone chewing properly."

The plate was passed and the children said their thanks as they served themselves, the cutlery clacking loudly.

"Thanks, miss," The Doctor said, and Ianto stared at where the Doctor had been. It was obviously empty space now, and then he looked back at where the Doctor was currently— seated at the table. The children backed away, horrified, but the Doctor just grinned. The girl didn't, and she told the children to stay where they were.

"It's good here, isn't it? Who's got the salt?" The Doctor asked. The children were still unnerved at his appearance, but the girl was unperturbed.

"Get back in you seats," she ordered, her eyes flickered up to the Doctor, "He shouldn't be here either."

"So you lot, what's the story?" The Time Lord asked, helping himself to more of the food.

"What do you mean?" Ernie asked.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?" And Ianto cringed a little because the alien was talking while he was eating.

The children settled and resumed plating their food and one of them asked, "Why do you want to know about us? Are you a copper?"

"'Course I'm not a copper," the Doctor chided, "What's a copper going to do to you lot? Arrest you for starving?"

The joke seemed to settle them, and they were laughing jovially in spite of the bombs bursting just outside. Ianto had to marvel at the resilience being displayed. The Doctor made eye contact with him, as if asking why he hadn't joined them yet. Ianto didn't have a reason, but he stayed in the shadows all the same.

He glanced at his watch, "By my count it must be 1941, you lot should have been evacuated out of London and in the country by now."

"I was evacuated, sent me to a farm," one boy spoke.

The Doctor studied him, "Why'd you come back?"

The little boy looked down, "There was a man there." And another piped up with, "Yeah, same as Ernie." Which seemed to upset the older boy; a sick feeling knotted Ianto's stomach at the implication.

"It's better on the streets anyway," Ernie interposed, "Nancy always gets the best food for us." The other children murmured in agreement and the Doctor fixed the girl, Nancy, with a fond look.

"Is that what you do, Nancy?" The Doctor asked. She didn't seem to understand, so he continued, "As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal, still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter. And Bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London town! Puddings for all! Unless the bombs get you."

Nancy wasn't quite so delighted, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Wrong with it? It's brilliant!" The Doctor enthused, "I'm not sure whether it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

"Why'd you follow me?" Nancy asked abruptly, "What do you want?"

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call." He answered, "You seem to be the one to ask."

Nancy seemed to grow uncomfortable, "I did you a favor. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling ya."

"Ah, great, thanks." The Doctor dismissed her recalcitrance, "And I want to find a blond in a Union Jack tee, and I mean a specific one, I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving." The children tittered as the Doctor asked if they had seen anyone like that.

Nancy stood up and marched over to him, her features stormy and her gait swift. She collected his plated, snatching it up with haste while the Doctor watched her with confusion, "What have I done wrong?"

"You took two slices," she snapped, to a chorus of chuckles.

"But one of them is for my friend, he's just over there," the Doctor protested and pointed in Ianto's direction, "Say 'hello' Ianto."

The Welshman cursed in his head, he'd rather liked observing and not having to contribute to the conversation. He wasn't good with most people in general but children made him highly uncomfortable. He'd been called out now and he stepped forward while the Doctor beamed at him. Ianto half-wondered if the Time Lord expected Nancy to return his plate.

Nancy slammed down the plate, furious, "I don't care. And no flags either. Anything else before you leave?" Her hand perched on her hip making her look the spitting image of a harried mother.

"Oh, yes there is actually, thanks for asking," the Doctor responded as he dug around his pockets before producing a folded piece of paper, " Something I've been looking for. It would have fallen out of the sky about a month ago but not a bomb. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere," the Doctor continued as he started to sketch with a pen he'd also fetched from his pockets, "it would have looked something like… this."

The Time Lord held up his picture. A crude drawing at best of the cylindrical capsule they were chasing. All the children leaned in, but Ianto noticed Nancy deliberately looked away. She knew something.

There was a soft knock on one of the window panes, followed by a soft voice pleading for his mummy. The Doctor leapt up and pulled open the curtain to reveal a little boy in a gas mask smacking his hand on the glass. The children backed away in alarm.

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy demanded and Ianto could tell she was fighting to keep her voice level, "Who came in through the front?"

"Me," said a small voice.

"Did you remember to close the door?" She asked in a whisper, the boy was still staring at the window so Nancy put a hand on his shoulder and repeated, "Did you close the door?"

The little boy in the gas mask was moving, crying out, "Mummy? Mummy?"

Nancy raced from the room, hurrying towards the door and fastening each of the many locks as Ianto and the Doctor followed after her. They could make out the little boy through the window of the door, still pleading for his mother. Ianto's skin crawled. She was locking him out, he was going to be left out there!

"What's this then?" The Doctor asked, "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know." The Time Lord spared him a brief glance and Ianto's throat tightened as memories of being locked out in the rain swam to the forefront of his mind.

"I suppose you'd know," Nancy spat.

"I do actually, so yes," the Doctor responded firmly.

"He's not exactly a child," Nancy defended her actions. The child cried out again and she headed back for the dining room where the homeless children huddled around quietly, "All right, everyone get out!" Nancy instructed, picking up her coat and waving them towards the backdoor, "Go! Now! Move!"

The children scattered, hurrying for their own coats and leaving the food behind. Ianto watched as they filed out of the room and out the back.

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in," The child called, sticking his tiny hand through the mail slot. Reaching out for some touch, some physical contact. Ianto knew because he'd craved the same things when he'd been a child. He knelt closer, he may not have been the boy's mother or father but he could still offer some comfort.

The Doctor looked at the front door sternly, "That's the same voice I heard on the telephone."

Ianto paused and blinked at the Doctor in surprise, "But how…?"

Nancy threw something at the hand and Ianto flinched as a vase shattered around him, spewing fragments of sharp glass everywhere, "You mustn't let him touch you!"

Ianto stared at her and he couldn't imagine what this child had done to warrant such cruelty.

"What happens if he touches me?" The Doctor asked, just as baffled **.**

"He'll make you like him!" Nancy answered her voice quaking with some unidentifiable emotion. It was something like fear, and anger and sorrow, but what did one call a thing like that?

"What's he like?" The Doctor demanded.

"I've got to go," Nancy insisted, turning to leave once more. Like she was washing her hands of the situation.

"Nancy, what's he like?" The Doctor repeated more firmly.

Nancy slowly turned to look at them, the anger gone but fear and sorrow lingered in her dark eyes, "He's empty."

The phone rang suddenly, and Ianto jolted as he stood up. They all stared at the black receiver until Nancy spoke up again, "It's him, he can make the phones ring, he can!" she insisted, "It's like that police box you saw."

The Doctor picked it up, and even Ianto could hear "Are you my mummy?" through the line. Nancy was quick to grab the phone and slam it back down in its cradle. Music started playing, some big band song and Ianto could hear the word 'mummy' repeated in the background. The Doctor and Nancy rushed to it, while Ianto walked. The Doctor turned the music down, only to have the toy monkey start bashing cymbals together.

How could a child be doing this?

Nancy fled as the toy began calling out 'mum-my, mum-my, mum-my' to the same beat of the tiny clapping.

They watched her go, and then turned back to the door where the little boy still stood. His hand peeking through the mail slot again, a deep laceration was visible on the back of it, but it was old and no longer bleeding. The Doctor looked at Ianto, his eyes silently asking if he was all right knowing the boy was left out there. He wasn't, but there were bigger things to deal with than ghosts he was still trying to shake.

"I'm scared," the little boy said, hand stretching out.

"Why are all the other children frightened of you?" The Doctor asked, crouching down and motioning for Ianto to stay back.

"Please let me in **,**  mummy, I'm scared of the bombs."

Ianto wasn't sure what he wanted to do. The child scared him, but he knew what is was like to be locked out and that had been frightening enough without bombs. Not that this house would hold up against one, but still.

"Okay," the Doctor spoke up, "I'm opening the door now." He gestured for Ianto to go upstairs, and Ianto did, but only halfway as the Doctor unlocked all the latches. He pulled open the door and there was nothing. No sign of the child.

How was that possible?

*~R~*

Rose blinked her eyes open and didn't recognize her surroundings. It was dark and cramped so it certainly wasn't the Tardis with its open and organic feel. Everything here was compact and square, all hard angles and lines in contrast to the soft curves she was used to, and whatever she was lying on was dreadfully uncomfortable.

She carefully sat up, a bit of vertigo sweeping through her and she suddenly remembered how she got here. The barrage balloon, falling, that blue tractor beam. Rose pushed herself out of the makeshift bedding and peered into the dark. Yep. The handsome gentleman was still there. She hadn't imagined that part. Which meant she hadn't imagined making a complete idiot of herself either. She rubbed her head.

"Feeling better now?" The man asked.

"Have you got lights in here?" Rose questioned. Her eyes were starting to strain in the gloom. The man flipped a few switches noisily and the… whatever they were in grew brighter. It was a bit bigger than she had first thought, but still claustrophobic in comparison to the Tardis.

"Hello," the man greeted. His voice was dripping honey again as he sat in what must have been the pilot's chair, he was surrounded by levers and buttons and wires and coils. She could see the deep blue of the night sky behind him. Not that she could focus on any of that. The man was so bloody good-looking it was hard for her to pay attention to anything else.

"Hello," she greeted in return, belatedly remembering that he had indeed spoken to her.

"Hello," he said again, teasing her.

Color rose to her cheeks, "Let's not start that again, okay?"

He chuckled, flashing his absolutely perfect white teeth and Rose was pretty sure her knees went just a little bit weak. She tugged at her shirt, wishing she'd dressed nicer and done something with her hair… Nothing to she could do now though. She drew a bit closer, her steps cautious and maybe just a touch shy.

"So," she started, "um, who are you supposed to be then?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, 1-3-3 squadron, Royal Air Force, American volunteer," he introduced himself and handed her an opened billfold. Rose took it and skimmed over the contents, biting back the urge to giggle.

"Liar," she grinned, and he looked cutely perplexed, "this is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."

Jack leaned away, crossing his arms and looking put out, "How do you know?"

"Two things, one: I have a friend who uses this all the time," she said and was very pleased with how intelligent it sounded, "and two: you just handed me a piece of paper that tells me you're single and you work out."

That part had her giddy. Here was this gorgeous gentleman who was very interested in her despite the fact she wasn't dressed up at all. He leaned forward suddenly, reaching out for the billfold.

"Tricky things, psychic paper," he joked as she relinquished it.

"Yeah," she agreed unable to fight the smile any longer, "can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over."

Jack reopened it taking a look at the paper, "Oh, you sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free."

Oh god. Warmth rushed to her cheeks. She hadn't! She'd hardly been thinking it at all, she hadn't meant for the paper to say anything let alone that. She wasn't sure she'd ever felt so mortified in her entire life, but Jack was sitting there grinning away and she couldn't let him think he'd won.

"No way."

He consulted the paper, "Actually, the word you use is available. And another one: very."

Rose knew she was now smiling out of nervousness and embarrassment, though she still felt a little giddy at their flirting. It must have been his aftershave, so she started to move away.

"Let's try to get along without the psychic paper, shall we?" She asked. She heard Jack stand up behind her and instantly felt his presence in the cramped vessel. It wasn't fair for him to be so attractive and smell so good in such a small space.

"That would be better, wouldn't it?" He agreed.

She turned around fumbling for something to say that wouldn't inflate the man's ego and make her sound besotted, she finally settled on, "Nice spaceship."

"Gets me around," Jack grinned. It wasn't like the Doctor's jovial grin, and it wasn't like Ianto's polite smile, it was charming and sensual and maybe just a little bit of the right kind of danger. She liked danger. Rose brushed those thoughts aside. Don't stare at him, focus on the ship, she berated herself.

With the lights on she could see all the little details. All the metal and all the buttons and switches and blinking lights.

"It's very…  _Spock_." She decided out loud. And it was. It reminded her very much of the old television show. One of the little escape pods, or shuttles.

"Who?" Jack asked blankly.

Rose moved towards the pilot's chair again, partly to explore and partly to have Jack chase her. It was a little thrilling to have him following after her and now she truly understood the point of playing hard to get.

"Guessing you're not a local boy then?" she quipped. She rested her knee on the chair, and maybe she deliberately bent over some to give Jack a view and maybe she was just leaning over to get a look out the window… or more likely the display screen.

"A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch and fabric that won't be around for at least another two decades…" Jack said in faux contemplation, "I'm guessing you're not a local girl."

She looked at him again, she needed to desensitize herself, "You're guessing right." She returned her attention to the controls and accidentally brushed her hand across something. She gasped and instantly brought her hands to her chest before looking them over. They were covered in angry red welts.

"Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack asked, all concern now. And that made it worse, he was sweet and flirty, not a common combination. Rose returned her attention to the display.

"The Germans are right there, can't they see us?" She asked, suddenly nervous. Space ship or not one of those bombs was bound to do some damage. It was a little eerie to watch the planes fly over everything, releasing wave after wave of destruction while she and Jack floated here unaffected.

"No," Jack said, and he sounded almost stern, "Now can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"

Rose slowly turned around to face him, sinking down into the chair which was still a bit warm from where Jack had been sitting. She forced her thoughts away from that, she wasn't in first year anymore. Jack was looking at her expectantly. Right. Her hands.

"Why?" Rose asked, keeping her arms close to her chest.

"Please," he sounded annoyed as he stepped closer. He knelt down next to her and Rose shyly held out her hands. Jack began waving something that looked like those laser light key chains over her injuries; it buzzed and whirred as if analyzing the abrasions. She risked glancing at him again.

"You can stop acting now," Jack said, and perhaps that had been the source of his sudden exasperation towards her, "I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."

"Time Agent?" He thought she was a Time Agent? What on Earth was a Time Agent?

"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up," Jack explained without explaining anything, "Though not by barrage balloon. You travel often that way?"

She was glad he was teasing her again, "Sometimes I just get swept off my feet… b-by balloons." Oh, she could have drowned in his eyes and that smile. The happy feeling was quickly replaced by nerves when Jack began tying her hands, "W-what are you doing?"

"Try to keep still," he instructed, reaching over her to press something above her head. Rose obeyed, if a little nervously. He was all but pressed against her, smelling absolutely fantastic and intoxicating… and then he moved away.

"Nanogenes, the air here is full of them." he said as tiny golden specks of light appeared, hovering over her hands. Rose stared, fascinated. They moved as a swarm, glowing brighter and brighter as they moved closer together until they formed an orb of glowing light. Her skin tingled where they touched and then they were flying away… scattering into nothing.

"They just repaired three layers of your skin." Jack said swiftly untying her.

Rose brushed her fingers over the newly healed skin. Perfectly smooth. She smiled at Jack. "Well, tell them I said thanks."

Jack laughed with her before abruptly leaving her said and saying, "Right, shall we get down to business?"

"Business?" She parroted as she watched Jack pick up a bottle of champagne.

"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" he asked, pressing one of the innumerable buttons on the ship. A portion of the ceiling started to lower and the sound that Rose had associated with hydraulics filled the cramped compartment. Jack flashed her a winning smile, and then raced up the makeshift ramp.

Rose followed much more cautiously and found herself in the cold night air again. She wasn't falling this time, or hanging from a barrage balloon, instead she was standing. She could feel something solid beneath her feet but she couldn't see anything. Her eyes flickered to Jack who was standing as though he had no care in the world, like he was used to looking out over the city. She ventured a few steps towards him, her arms out to help balance herself.

"I know I'm standing on something," she joked to hide her unease. Jack chuckled and pressed a button on some device he'd retrieved from his RAF jumpsuit. Suddenly the air shimmered and solidified into a curved slab of metal that must have been the top of the ship. It was a sort of grey-brown color, some kind of metal she didn't recognize.

"You have an invisible space ship," she gasped, feeling just a touch light-headed.

"Yeah," Jack responded as though that were obvious, and it was. Rose felt a flush return to her cheeks.

"Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason," she continued, her eyes darting around and her body flinching as the sound of bombs whistling through the air drew nearer.

"First rule of camouflage," Jack informed her as he passed over two of the glasses he'd procured, "park somewhere you'll remember." He popped the cork and it let of a loud  _bang_ that caused Rose to shriek a bit. Jack chuckled at her and began pouring the amber bubbly into the shallow glasses. Rose couldn't help but smile back at him.

~[J]~

The mark, Jack vaguely remembered her introducing herself as Rose, leapt up quite suddenly when he'd let his hand wander a bit too close. She was now standing a few feet away while he remained reclined sipping his drink.

"Y'know, it's getting a bit late, I really should be getting back," she said. So, clearly she wasn't in charge. Her cluelessness had been a good indicator of that already. She was cute though, and very witty if not knowledgeable.

"We're discussing business," Jack coaxed. He needed her and whoever she was partnered with, hopefully not anyone he knew, to buy the piece of space junk. But he couldn't seal the deal just yet; the bomb wouldn't land there for another hour or two and he couldn't give them a chance to actually see it. He'd hoped for a little bit of fun with the girl and then selling them the empty container. Seemed that was out.

She was chuckling and eyeing him skeptically, "This isn't business, this is champagne."

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head," he retorted and sipped his drink to prove his point. It wasn't true, but then, most of what he said these days wasn't. The mark seemed unimpressed, and so he put his glass aside and stood up. So maybe he would cut to business, and since she clearly had someone to go back to he may as well find out more. Maybe then he'd get his bit of fun.

"Are you traveling alone?" He asked, though he was sure of the answer, "Are you authorized to make negotiations with me?"

"What are we negotiating?" She asked and she was back to flirting. Jack wasn't a hundred percent sure how he wanted to handle it, since she clearly wasn't going to tumble into bed anytime soon. No, he'd try it with her partner, he hoped the other was just as good-looking.

"I've found something for the Time Agency, something they'd like to buy. Are you empowered to make payment?" He asked trying to force her on the right track. She was still eyeing him with those sultry hazel eyes.

"Well, I should talk to my… companion," she relented. Most Time Agents called the person they traveled with 'partner' if she'd dubbed him or her 'companion' they may have been something more serious. Maybe he wouldn't get his bit of fun at all. No, he could talk his way into a threesome. It had been a very long time since he'd participated in one of those and to be honest, Algey had been getting a little too clingy. Jack was getting ahead of himself, he needed more information.

"Companion?"

"Yeah, I should really be getting back to him," she elaborated.

"Him?" That was a little disappointing. Men were always a little harder to convince, they tended to get possessive and didn't like other males honing in on their territory. It wouldn't be a quick pull, but Jack hadn't given up hope for a threesome.

"Do you have the time?" She asked instead of granting Jack more information about her 'companion.' He'd just have to wing it with this guy, he supposed. He pressed a button and Big Ben lit up.

"Kay, that was flash," the mark said, clearly startled by the clock. She must have been very new, and from a very early time period to be impressed by so much. If she and her partner were both from an early time period this might be even trickier, early humans still clung to traditions like monogamy. He definitely needed more information. He put his hands on her slim waist and drew her in close, letting his pheromones do some of the work to get her talking.

"So, when you say, 'companion' just how disappointed should I be?" He asked. Jack could sense her breath quickening, and she hadn't pulled away, all good signs.

"We're standing in midair," she began and he gave her his indulgent smile, "on a space ship, during a German air raid, do you really think now's a good time," he lifted her hand to his lips, "to be coming on to me?"

Oh, she was hooked. He could tell, now was the time to turn up the charm. Which he did by pulling away. Women loved this trick; he'd made his interest obvious now she would make her move. His little blonde mark would be in his bed in no time, and hopefully with her handsome partner. At this point he'd settle for average looking, but a good looking bloke was his first choice.

"Perhaps you're right." He agreed letting go of her hand and fixing her with his best disappointed-but-trying-to-hide it smile before he turned away.

Worked like a dream, Rose was trailing after him, "It was just a suggestion."

That was a bit more forward and he grinned delightedly. He pressed his remote as he whipped around, "Do you like Glenn Miller?"

Everyone loved Glenn Miller, which is why he hadn't bothered to wait for her response as the first notes to Moonlight Serenade enveloped them. She smiled shyly as he moved in for a dance. She was a little caught off guard, and she obviously wasn't used to slow dancing, but she was graceful enough. Her hands felt good on him and he had to force himself not to imagine them in other places without his clothes in the way. Business. Think about business.

"It's 1941, height of the London Blitz, height of the German bombing campaign," he murmured in her ear as they waltzed atop his ship, "and something else has fallen on London: a fully equipped Chula warship, the last one in existence, armed to the teeth, and I know where it is," he pulled away to read her face, "because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever." It was probably more like an hour and twenty minutes but she needn't know that. "That's you're deadline, that's the deal. Now shall we discuss payment?"

The blonde looked dazed, "Do you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you were talking just there…" she said, still looking dazed.

Damn, a little too much on the pheromones, but he tried to be patient, she must be from a very early time period to have been that affected, "Two hours, the bomb falls, there will be nothing left but dust and a crater."

"Promises, promises," she murmured silkily.

Focus, Jack, or there goes the threesome and possibly the money, "Are you listening to any of this?" He demanded to snap her out of it.

"Used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer," she said.

"A little harsh, I like to think of myself as a criminal," he said, unable to resist pulling her in tightly against himself.

She giggled, "I bet you do." She was adorable.

Business.

"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" Jack asked.

"Well, I delegate a lot of that, but yeah," she said temptingly close. He could kiss her, right now, and he wanted to… no. Threesome. He wanted her partner too, he wanted a tangle of limbs and bodies until he couldn't tell who was who anymore.

"Then maybe we should find him," he suggested, mentally picturing every disgusting thing he could in lieu of a cold shower.

"And how are you going to do that?" She asked.

He grinned, "Easy, I'll do a scan for alien tech."

Jack hit a few keys on his wriststrap. Sell the space junk and get back at the Agency, then a few drinks and a threesome. Tonight was going to be excellent.

.[D].

"Any sign of Rose?" The Doctor asked as he returned from the railway station with Nancy in tow. She looked reluctant, but it would seem that the Doctor had somehow managed to coax her into helping them.

Ianto shook his head. He hadn't seen Rose, and it wasn't as though there were a great many people he could ask during an air raid. He assumed everyone was huddled up in their makeshift shelters hardly better than the homes they'd left behind.

The Doctor frowned at the lack of news, but then he gestured to Nancy, "She's going to lead us to the capsule. We can concentrate on finding Rose once we've made sure the city isn't in danger."

Nancy fidgeted, as though she really didn't want to be there or guide them to whatever had crashed. The Doctor was right, they could find Rose once they'd settled matters with the mauve vessel. Rose was a smart girl, she'd probably found somewhere to hide as the bombs fell which was a sight better than all the running around Ianto was doing with the Doctor.

"This way," Nancy blurted, summing up the last of her nerve no doubt. She moved at a brisk pace forcing both Ianto and the Doctor to follow after her or risk losing sight of her in the darkness. They picked their way through empty streets and rubble, silent as ghosts while the sound of explosives echoed in the distance.

"About how long ago did this thing fall, Nancy?" The Doctor queried dissolving the hush that had descended over them.

"A month ago," she answered tersely. She continued trudging ahead of them, climbing over piles of what may have been homes once upon a time. Ianto could see bits of wrought iron poking out and he regretted his decision to wear a suit. Even if the Tardis seemed to have an inexhaustible amount of clothing, it was no reason to muck about in them.

After roughly ten minutes of walking, Nancy stopped, "I won't go any further," she announced, "the bomb is over there, under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight."

The Doctor pulled out a device that looked like a pair of binoculars and held them to his eyes. Ianto squinted in the gloom, and could only make out some moving figures in the distance, along with a tall fence and something rather large behind it. Their dangerous capsule no doubt, but Ianto couldn't make out much; despite the flood lights glowing brightly.

"See that building? The hospital?" Nancy asked, pointing towards a desolate looking building a kilometer or two away.

"What about it?" The Doctor asked as he turned his attention that way.

"That's where the doctor is," Nancy elaborated, "You should talk to him."

Ianto was forced to assume a doctor had been mentioned earlier while he had been looking for Rose because the Doctor didn't bother to ask about him. Instead he replied with, "Right now I'm more interested in what's under there."

The Doctor pointed to the tarpaulin as he peered through his binoculars.

"Talk to the doctor first," Nancy insisted patiently as contradictory as that seemed. Ianto was still left wondering who this doctor was and what he had to do with the mauve capsule that had crashed.

"Why?" Apparently the Doctor was wondering the same thing.

"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." Nancy replied, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice at last. She turned away and began walking back in the direction they'd come from.

"Where you going?" The Doctor asked casually.

Nancy paused and faced them once more, "There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. It should be safe enough now."

For his part, the Doctor kept staring out his binoculars and carried on with his inquiries, "Can I ask you something? Who did you lose?"

Ianto looked to Nancy in surprise, though, in the middle of the Blitz it should have been easy to guess she'd lost at least one family member. Nancy seemed just as shocked at the question as Ianto felt and there was a pregnant silence between the three of them. She composed herself and replied with, "What?" her voice oddly defensive.

The Doctor lowered his binoculars and let his gaze fall to her as he spoke, "The way you look after all those kids, it's 'cause you lost somebody isn't it?"

Nancy grew agitated.

"You're doing all this to make up for it. So, who did you lose?" The Doctor pressed, leaning against a chunk of cement wall and crossing his arms.

The dark-haired girl let her eyes flicker away as her features softened, "My little brother," she admitted softly, "Jamie. One night I went out looking for food, same night that thing fell." She wouldn't meet either the Doctor's or Ianto's eyes as her voice broke, "I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous… but he… he just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?" the Doctor asked.

Nancy gave him a dark look, "In the middle of an air raid? What do you think happened?"

The Doctor gave one nod of his head and glanced away. Ianto let his own gaze fall and he offered a moment of silence for the departed boy. He couldn't imagine how it would feel to lose someone so suddenly and so violently. It was in that moment that Ianto admired her, all alone in the middle of a war zone struggling to help all she could in the wake of losing her brother.

A soft, humorless chuckle from the Doctor prompted Ianto to look at him again.

"Amazing," the Time Lord said, to the bafflement of the others, "1941, right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country falling like dominos. Nothing can stop it, nothing, until one tiny damp little island says 'no… no, not here.'" He chuckled again, "A mouse in front of a lion."

The Doctor looked at Nancy, "You're amazing, the lot of you. I don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me." He beamed at her for a moment, "Off you go then, do what you've got to do."

Nancy flashed him an odd look, an unsure smile caught somewhere between genuine and humoring.

The Doctor started heading for the hospital, calling over his shoulder, "Come along, Ianto."

.[D].

"The fifty-third level of a top secret base, floor five hundred and now Albion Hospital," Ianto observed as the Doctor waved his Sonic Screwdriver over the lock until the device gave way, "you seem fond of trespassing."

"Yep," the Time Lord grinned as he pulled open the gate, "you seem fond of lists."

"I was an archivist." Ianto pointed out as he entered the stone archways. The building wasn't quite as derelict as it had looked some kilometers away, but it had clearly seen better days. There had been some structural damage which further compounded the dreariness. The Doctor stood at Ianto's side, the human was also taking in the enormity of the building.

"Shall we see who's home?" The Doctor asked, gesturing to the only room with a light.

Ianto gave a wry smile and headed for the entrance, a touch surprised the wooden doors weren't secured as the iron gate had been. It turned out the hallways were all dimly lit so the duo had no problems picking their way through the hospital.

"Shouldn't there be staff? Where are the nurses and doctors?" Ianto asked as he looked around.

The Doctor headed for one of the rooms and pushed the door open. He waved Ianto over and together they entered the stillness. Even in the gloom the Doctor could see the beds filled with bodies. All of them. Not a single vacant cot. "No shortage of patients," The Doctor quipped and swiftly exited. He stepped into the hallway again and opened the next door, and the next.

All of them were full.

All of them filled with bodies.

"What…?" Ianto asked, seemingly unable to form a proper question.

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't know," his gaze flickered upward, "but maybe Nancy's doctor might."

~[J]~

Jack had gotten a lock on some alien device, but the reading was too far away for him to get an idea of exactly what it was. He turned to the girl and informed her, "Seems your companion is at the old hospital."

She smiled some, "Well he is…"

"He is…?" Jack prompted, angling for more information. He needed to know how to play him.

"Nothing, never mind," the blonde responded.

Jack looked put out "Can I at least get the name of the man you're traveling with?"

"Oh, um… He's Mr. Spock. Mr. Spock and Ianto Jones."

Jack paused mid-step. Two men? This night just kept getting better. Well, he assumed this Ianto was a male, it was an unusual name but it sounded more masculine than feminine. It hardly mattered, a warm willing body was a warm willing body. Jack couldn't help the grin as he carried on, confident he could bed at least one of them and hopeful that he'd have a chance at all three.

[.D.]

The lights were in this room, but none of the others, so the Doctor had assumed this would be the place to find the doctor. The sound of a wooden cane proved there was at least someone here.

Both the Doctor and Ianto turned at the door creaking, and out stepped an elderly gentlemen in a white lab coat, who spoke evenly, "You'll find them everywhere."

The man continued walking, leaning heavily on his cane. The clicking filling the entire room until he spoke again, "In every bed, in every room. Hundreds of them."

"Yes, I saw," the Doctor said, eyes trained on the new arrival as he made his journey towards a chair near an old desk. He hardly needed to look to know Ianto was doing the same.

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Ianto asked.

"They're not," the man replied simply, "now who are you both?"

The Doctor stalled for a bit, then interjected, "Are you the Doctor?" A part of him wondering if it were possible that he was seeing a future version of himself, and a little worried at the implications.

"I'm Doctor Constantine, and you are?" the man insisted, pausing in his walk.

No. Not him then. When he did take a name, he always chose John Smith. The old man must have been a medical doctor then, hence his lab coat and presence in Albion Hospital. "Nancy sent me," the Doctor said, still wary of the man.

Clarity and understanding washed over the man's features, and he resumed his trek, "Nancy sent you, that means you must have been asking about the bomb."

Good, they were finally getting somewhere, "Yes."

"What do you know about it?" Constantine demanded.

"Nothing," the Doctor denied, "that's why I was asking." He still wasn't sure if he trusted the aging doctor, "What do you know?"

Constantine turned around and surveyed the room, sorrow clearly weighing on his shoulders, "Only what it's done," he answered.

"These people were all there when the bomb fell?" Ianto asked. The Doctor had been about to ask the same, already cycling through his knowledge of biological and chemical weapons that might cause this scale of damage. He looked to the bodies and noted there weren't boils or any signs of irritated skin, like a rash. That narrowed it down.

"None of them were."

The Doctor whipped his head back to face Doctor Constantine, who chuckled and then began coughing and hacking as he sat himself in the green chair. Ianto moved forward to help, but Constantine waved him away and Ianto stilled. An idea formed, it was a disease, a highly contagious disease and Constantine probably had it.

"You're very sick," the Doctor said, almost an accusation.

"Dying I should think," Constantine replied, pausing to cough, "I just haven't been able to find the time."

The Doctor chuckled some at that, but he sensed the man knew more than he was letting on. Still, he was grateful Constantine hadn't let Ianto help him, especially if the disease was so virulent.

"Are you a doctor?"

"I have my moments," the Time Lord responded to the sudden query.

"Have you examined any of them yet?" Constantine probed, and when the Doctor told him he hadn't he turned very serious and warned, "Don't touch the flesh."

"Which one?" the Doctor questioned.

"Any one."

That must have been how it was spread, touch. The Doctor narrowed down the list of possible diseases and tried not to think of how close Ianto might have come to joining all these bodies. He hurried over to one of the bodies, and Ianto did the same to one a few beds over. The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and waved it over the face of the body in front of him.

"Conclusions?" Constantine pressed.

"Massive head trauma to the right side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, also to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems fused to the flesh, but I can see any burns…" the Doctor answered. By all accounts the wounds were what he would expect of someone who had been either crushed, or caught in the blast.

"Examine another," Constantine ordered.

And the Doctor did. He moved to the another bed, one containing a nurse in a blue frock. The Time Lord waved his Sonic Screwdriver over her only to discover that she was in identical condition, but that was..."Impossible."

"Examine another," the elderly man insisted again. This time, the Doctor crossed over to the other side of the room; the results were the same. Massive head trauma, partially collapsed chest…

"This is impossible," the Doctor exclaimed, moving to the bed Ianto was observing, "they've all got the same injuries, exactly the same. Identical, all of them right down to the scar on the back of their hands."

"Just like the boy…" Ianto whispered.

"How did this happen? When did it start?" the Doctor demanded, focusing his attention on Constantine.

The man bore a somber expression and gripped his cane tightly, "When the bomb dropped, there was only one victim."

"Dead?"

"At first. His injuries were, I'm afraid, dreadful. By the following morning every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, bore those exact same injuries. By the morning after that every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries… as a plague." Constantine informed them, "You explain that. And what would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma," the Doctor tried.

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

The Doctor frowned sternly, no longer interested in a guessing game, "All right then, what was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one." Constantine explained, "They're not dead." He hit his cane against a nearby rubbish bin the clattering reverberated loudly throughout the room and suddenly all the bodies sat upright. The Doctor startled, holding his arm out in front of Ianto as he tried to keep the patients away. But the patients didn't move.

"It's all right, they're harmless. They just sit there." The bald man told them. Still, the Doctor herded Ianto away from the beds. The Time Lord saw no need to be near them, especially since he still didn't have a sure answer for what was happening. Sure he had ideas, but he wasn't willing to take a chance yet. Not with Ianto's life.

"And no one's doing anything?" The Doctor bellowed, "Who's helping all these people?"

Constantine looked affronted, "I make them comfortable, what else can be done?"

"Just you?" the Doctor asked, "you're the only one here?"

"Before this war began I was father and a grandfather. Now I am neither, but I am still a doctor."

The Time Lord softened, "Yeah… I know the feeling…"

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb," Constantine murmured bitterly.

"Probably too late."

"I know, there are isolated cases," Constantine began hacking violently, as though he were trying to dislodge something, "isolated cases breaking out all over London."

Ianto moved towards him again, but the Doctor grabbed his arm just as the elderly man ordered him to stay back. Ianto turned his gaze towards the Doctor and the confusion laced with concern was there in his eyes and the line of his mouth. The Doctor gestured to the hand and Ianto stiffened.

"Room eight-oh-two, that's where they took the first patient, the boy we took from the crash site," Constantine spoke quickly, as if he were running out of time, "and you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" The Doctor echoed.

"He was her brother. She knows more than she's say _ing_. She won't tell me, but she mi-mi-mi," the man clutched at the back of his jaw and he seemed to be struggling with something, "mummy? Are… you… my… mummy?"

Ianto's eyes widened, and the Doctor was sure his did as well. They watched together, frozen in some blend of shock and horror as Constantine's face warped. His jaw extending all the way as the muzzle of a gas mask formed. The skin around his eyes sank and morphed into the goggles. Bone rearranged itself with sickening pops and cracks.

Whatever this was it was changing human DNA, rewriting it over time, changing living cells into… into something else entirely. And it was spreading. Fast.

~[J]~

Even though he heard rumors about what was happening at Albion Hospital, it didn't prepare Jack for just how wrong it felt. The darkness, the emptiness, it was downright eerie. If the wrist strap hadn't indicated there were lifeforms in the rooms Jack would have called the place abandoned.

"Hello?" Jack called out, eager to do business and get out of the desolate location. Maybe he'd take them to a parlor, here in 1941; he'd grown rather fond of a little one on the outskirts. "Hello?"

The door on the far side of the hall opened, and out stepped a tall man in a leather jacket. His ears and his nose were a bit big, but he wasn't a bad looking bloke. Seemed quite fit too. Rose was better looking, but if he got his foursome Jack didn't have any complaints. He rushed over and clasped the man's larger hand.

"Good evening, hope we're not interrupting," Jack enthused, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness, I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

The man hardly spared a glance at him, Mr. Spock was focused more on the girl which left Jack feeling a little dejected. Mr. Spock wasn't that attractive anyway, Jack consoled himself pettily.

"He knows," Rose said, "I told him about us being Time Agents."

Jack eyed them carefully, noting the strange nod Mr. Spock gave her.

"So, where's Ianto?" Rose asked, looking around quickly.

"Oh, I told him to stay put. Wasn't sure who was coming," Mr. Spock explained and waved towards the room he'd emerged from. Jack couldn't help the slight grin at that. Protective of him? Ianto must have been new and Jack wouldn't mind teaching him the ropes.

He clapped the other man on the shoulders, "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Spock," and headed for the door. So his odds with Rose and Spock were slim, but he still had a chance with the last member of their little group. Jack could hear the two of them chatting as he reached the door and pulled it open.

Jack was met with sharp blue eyes on very young face turning towards him. Definitely the newest of the group, Jack could just tell.

"Hello, Captain Jack Harkness," he purred, striding over and offering his hand along with his most charming smile. The young man looked a touch surprised as he accepted the handshake.

"Ianto Jones."

"That's an unusual name," Jack told him, never breaking eye contact. Well, except to look Ianto up and down. How could he not admire the view in that colorful three piece suit?

Ianto quirked an eyebrow, "Actually, that's one of the most common names. In Wales."

Jack gave him a sheepish grin, and recovered with, "Is that what that beautiful accent is?" He hadn't paid much attention to Wales in his academy days, and he'd grown up on a colony that hadn't even been on Earth. Assuming that was the Wales Ianto referred to in the first place, and not some other Wales.

Ianto looked skeptical and parted his pink lips to speak, but Spock and Rose entered the room and Jack no longer had his attention.

"Rose," Ianto greeted as he moved towards her. She beamed at him in return. Jack once again felt dejected, all of these people and not one of them was paying him near enough attention.

Spock stood with his arms cross and a stern expression, while Rose began looking around at all the bodies. "What happened?" She asked, creeping closer to one of the beds.

"Don't touch them," Ianto instructed, and Rose stepped back instantly. Jack joined them, standing directly beside Ianto and using his wrist strap to scan the body. He noticed Ianto studying the device intently, and smirked to himself. Well, at least something impressed him. Then Jack caught sight of the readout. The bodies were only 98.7 percent human, that was enough for a different species.

"That's impossible… How did this happen?" Jack bewilderedly asked, spinning around.

"What kind of Chula ship landed?" Spock asked, that same condescending expression on his face.

"What?"

"You said it was a Chula warship," Rose said, her tone bordering on accusation, "stole it, parked it somewhere, somewhere a bomb is going to fall on it, unless we make him an offer."

Jack could practically feel his hackles raise. No. No this wasn't his fault. He wasn't to blame for all these people. He stepped away and ignored the burn of their eyes on him. But staring at the inhuman bodies on the bed was almost worse and he drew a hand to his mouth. This whole thing was falling apart.

"What kind of warship?" Spock demanded.

"Does it matter?" Jack snapped, whirling to face them. Rose, disappointed in him, Spock, glaring… and Ianto… Ianto only seemed indifferent. "It's got nothing to do with this!"

"This," Spock bellowed and pointed to the beds as he marched up to Jack, "started at the bomb site, it has everything to do with it!" And now the man was only a few feet from him, "What kind of warship?"

"An ambulance!" Jack admitted. A Chula ambulance was useless without the supplies, just an empty capsule really, which is why he didn't want to tell them. No one would pay for an empty ambulance. Chula or not.

Spock stilled, and Jack held up his wrist strap as he began keying in the code to display the image of the mauve ship, "That's what you chased through the time vortex. It's space junk! I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty, I made sure of it! Nothing but a shell, I threw it at you. I saw your time travel vehicle- love the retro look by the way, nice panels—throw you the bait—"

"Bait?" Rose interrupted.

"He wanted to sell it to us, even though it's," Ianto answered and gave him a pointed look, "space junk."

"And what were you gonna do once we found out?" Rose demanded.

Jack held up his hands to stall their anger. "I was going to let it get destroyed before you ever looked at it."

"You said it was a warship!" Rose accused.

"They have ambulances in wars," Jack snarked. Ianto started to chuckle and then turned it into a cough when Spock and Rose both made faces. Jack got the impression he had a tendency to laugh at inappropriate moments. Jack flashed him a winning smile though, his hopes rekindled some until Ianto glowered at him in return.

Jack broke away from the group heading for the door and then stopping, "It's a con, I was conning you, that's what I do, I'm a conman! I thought you were Time Agents, you're not, are you?"

Rose donned a superior expression as she regarded him coldly, "Just a couple of free lancers."

Jack had enough, she may have been cute but she didn't get to pull this with him, they didn't get to blame all this on him. How was she any better? She'd pretended to be a Time Agent, that was an intergalactic offense! "Ugh," then he chuckled, "Well, I should have known, the way you're blending in with the local color! Flag girl's bad enough, but U-boat captain?" Jack looked over Ianto's ensemble again, "Don't get me wrong, I love the suit, but this is 1941! Anyway, this has nothing to do with me!"

They each seemed to realize they weren't dressed appropriately for the time period, but they brushed the short-lived concern aside.

"What's happening, Doctor?" Rose asked.

Oh, it was 'Doctor' now?

"Human DNA is being rewritten," he answered, "by an idiot. There's some kind of virus turning everybody into these things. But why? What's the point?"

Jack stilled, glad they had stopped blaming him for the moment. He studied the bodies once more and realized that he couldn't just leave. They needed to stay and find out was happening and stop it.

"Let me take another look…" Jack said, walking away from the door and back towards the bed Ianto was standing over. "Head trauma to the right…"

"Partial collapse of the chest cavity, laceration to the back of the hand, and the gas mask isn't fused on. It is the face." Ianto filled in and Jack stared at him in confusion. He didn't get to ask what that meant; the body jerked upright violently which had both of them scrambling away while Rose let out a loud shriek.

It was all of them.

All of the bodies were rising up and moving towards them. Crowding them in until they were all huddled with their backs against the wall.

"Ianto," Rose began nervously, "earlier, you said, you said not to touch them. Why? What happens when they touch you?"

Jack swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

"Mummy?" Dozens of them asked, "Mummy?" They were moving in closer and closer.

"What happens when they touch you?" Rose demanded, her voice turning hysterical.

The Doctor was the one who answered, "You're looking at it."

 


End file.
